As ready-mixed concrete plants in central Seoul shut down one after another, concerns are growing over unstable materials supply at major redevelopment and maintenance sites. Ready-mixed concrete must arrive on-site and be poured within 90 minutes of production, but only two plants remain within Seoul. The construction industry says regulations on installing batching plants (on-site ready-mixed concrete production facilities) that produce concrete directly on-site should be eased to prevent construction cost increases and delays in the supply of dwellings, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport drew a line, saying it has no plans to relax regulations for private sites.
According to the cement industry on the 23rd, the two ready-mixed concrete plants left in Seoul are Cheonma Concrete in Segok-dong, Gangnam District, and Shinil CM in Jangji-dong, Songpa District. After the Sampho Remicon plant in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong District—which handled about 40% of Seoul's ready-mixed concrete volume in 2022—was closed, the plant in Pungnap-dong, Songpa District, also shut down late last year. As noise and fine dust complaints and pressure from urban development pile up, ready-mixed concrete plants are being pushed out of Seoul.
The problem is that it is getting increasingly difficult to supply ready-mixed concrete to maintenance sites within Seoul in a timely manner. Ready-mixed concrete is made by mixing cement, gravel, and sand with water, and it begins to set as time passes. Typically, it must arrive on-site and be poured within 90 minutes of production to maintain quality. If that window is missed, it sometimes must be discarded. Until now, builders have selected around 8 to 10 manufacturers within a radius of roughly 20–25 kilometers from the site to procure volume, but options have shrunk significantly within Seoul.
The construction industry expects supply-and-demand pressure to grow further. If development of the third new towns such as Wangsuk in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, and Gyeyang in Incheon gets into full swing, demand for ready-mixed concrete in the greater Seoul area is likely to increase. Meanwhile, plants shunned by residents may be pushed even farther to the outskirts of the metropolitan area. For Seoul's maintenance project sites, that means longer supply distances and more uncertain transport times.
A batching plant is being discussed as an alternative. A batching plant is a method in which a builder installs fixed or mobile facilities within or near a construction site to produce and supply ready-mixed concrete directly. By reducing reliance on external plants and transport vehicles, it is considered a tool to enhance supply stability on large-scale sites.
But in practice, examples of installing and operating batching plants at private sites are rare. The installation expense is high, and pushback from the existing ready-mixed concrete and transport industries is also a burden. In Seoul, Hyundai Engineering & Construction installed a batching plant at a large-scale reconstruction site around Banpo-dong, Seocho District. Given the 5,000-household scale of the project and surrounding traffic congestion, the local government reportedly approved the installation in 2024. By contrast, the batching plant sought by IPARK Hyundai Development Company for the mixed-use development at the area around Gwangun University Station in Wolgye-dong, Nowon District, fell through. The local government reportedly did not grant approval amid opposition from the ready-mixed concrete transport union.
Calls for deregulation have grown further amid a recent walkout by the ready-mixed concrete transport union in the greater Seoul area. The Construction Association of Korea formally asked the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) to ease standards for installing on-site batching plants. The association said, "Under the current system, procedures are complex and requirements are stringent, making on-site production virtually impossible in emergencies."
However, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is cautious about easing regulations. A MOLIT official said, "The government is not currently reviewing measures to ease or expand installation requirements for batching plants to private construction sites." While it has been mentioned as an alternative if the ready-mixed concrete transport walkout is prolonged, officials noted this has not led to actual discussions on improving the system.
Last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) revised the Construction Work Quality Control Guidelines to allow certain large-scale national projects to receive their entire supply of ready-mixed concrete from batching plants. In addition to builders, public project owners such as the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) and the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) were allowed to install batching plants. However, at general private business sites, batching plant production and supply are still limited to 50% of total ready-mixed concrete needs.
An official at a major construction company said, "In urban maintenance projects, if ready-mixed concrete is not supplied on time, the entire schedule can be pushed back," adding, "If the supply chain wobbles, it ultimately leads to higher construction costs and pre-sale prices."