Introduction

Worldwide, the construction sector is one of the principal consumers of natural resources and presents a significant carbon footprint related to the production and transportation of construction materials, e.g., cement, and aggregates. Due to COVID-19, the construction industry has been negatively impacted considering the lockdown and restrictions by various governments, most of the projects were halted since most of the construction could not get the raw materials in time. Naturally, the aggregate market is affected on a short-term basis, but the market is recovering especially in Asia–Pacific after the relaxation of lockdown in many countries and the global outlook to 2030 indicates that the aggregates production will be driven by three key factors, namely, increase in global population (reaching 8.5billion by 2030), continued economic development and increase in global urbanisation (reaching 60% by 2030). Accordingly, it is estimated that global aggregates production will increase to some 60billion tonnes by 2030. According to O’Brien (2019), the strongest growth will be in Asia, particularly in India, with lower but positive growth in Africa and Latin America.