The Crown Estate and The British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) have released two reports: the annual Area Involved report and 2022 Aggregates Review.

Firstly, The Crown Estate and BMAPA have published their 24^th annual Area Involved report, detailing changes in the area of seabed licensed and dredged for marine aggregates during 2021.

Information from the report includes:

• A total of 21 million tonnes of sand and gravel were dredged under Crown Estate licence in England and Wales during 2021 (compared to 18 million tonnes in 2020)
• The total area of seabed licensed in 2021 was 1,068km² (1,055km² in 2020)
• Dredging took place within 106 km²(10 per cent of the licensed area) compared with 101km² (also 10 per cent) in 2020

Alongside the Area Involved report, The Crown Estate has also published its 2022 Annual Review of the marine aggregates industry, containing data for the calendar year 2021.This provides a national and regional view of consented marine aggregate reserves and licensed output capacity, alongside details of the quantity of aggregates dredged, in terms of both their extraction and delivery location.

Key points from the 2022 report include:

• There is an estimated national consented reserve of 338 million tonnes of aggregates, enough to meet current average demand levels for the next 21 years
• Marine aggregates provide over 20 per cent of the sand and gravel demand in England and Wales, with the majority of supply (nearly 90 per cent) used in high-value ready-mixed concrete and concrete products
• One-third of all primary aggregate demand in London and the South East of England is met from marine resources, whilst in South Wales over 90 per cent of the market demand for natural sand also comes from the sea
• A total of 4.3 million tonnes of aggregate materials were exported in 2021, primarily to Belgium and The Netherlands.

Further information from The Crown Estate can be read here.

Read the full reports on the Crown Estate website:

The Crown Estate and BMAPA: The Area Involved 24^th annual report (marine aggregate extraction 2021)

The Crown Estate: Marine Aggregates Annual Review 2022