GT3 turning Australia’s building cost headache into concrete opportunity

• Concrete costs keep climbing as traditional cement substitutes run short
• GT3’s MKX can replace up to 40% of clinker and cut associated emissions
• GT3 lands Holcim and Eifers deals as concrete footprint grows

Australia has a serious concrete headache.

We need mountains of the stuff to build houses, roads, bridges, hospitals and pretty much everything else that keeps the country running.

But making it isn’t getting any cheaper. Quite the opposite.

Energy bills are hurting manufacturers, diesel is adding to delivery costs, quarrying is expensive and finding skilled concreters isn’t exactly a walk in the park.

And with Australia trying to build more homes while spending billions on infrastructure, demand isn’t going away anytime soon.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show house construction prices rose 5.9% in the year to June 2026, with Western Australia recording an 8.8% increase.

The ABS also pointed to concrete supply pressures, rising freight costs and labour shortages.

And remember, that’s on top of years of construction cost increases that have already left builders scratching their heads.

For developers pouring thousands of cubic metres of concrete, even a relatively small price increase can turn into a rather painful bill.

Cement is one of the big culprits.

Making it involves heating limestone and other materials to around 1450 degrees Celsius to produce clinker, the main ingredient in conventional cement.

That takes a serious amount of energy. The process also pumps out plenty of carbon emissions.

But here’s where things get interesting.

Concrete producers don’t necessarily need to rely entirely on traditional clinker to make strong, durable concrete.

They can replace some of it with alternative materials, potentially saving money, improving performance and cutting emissions.

And with construction budgets already stretched, those alternatives are suddenly looking a whole lot more attractive.

Ingredients that kept costs down are disappearing

For decades, concrete manufacturers have relied on two handy cement substitutes: fly ash from coal-fired power stations and blast-furnace slag from steelmaking.

They’re known as supplementary cementitious materials, or SCMs.

Fancy name, simple idea. They replace some of the clinker in cement, helping producers manage costs while maintaining or even improving concrete performance.

But there’s a problem.

Coal-fired power stations are closing, while changes in steelmaking are putting pressure on traditional slag supplies.

So just as Australia needs more concrete, some of the ingredients that helped make it more economical are becoming harder to get.

Not exactly ideal timing, but that has created an interesting opening for companies with something new to offer.

One of them is Green360 Technologies (ASX:GT3), which is already getting its cement replacement product, MKX, into the commercial market.

GT3 executive chair Aaron Banks previously told Stockhead that Victoria alone faces a pretty serious supply challenge.

“Victoria needs somewhere around a million tonne of SCMs to produce concrete for the Victorian market, which is the second largest market, only slightly behind New South Wales,” Banks said.

“There’s no in-state solution.”

Could ordinary clay become a big deal?

GT3’s approach starts with something surprisingly ordinary: kaolin clay.

By processing it into a highly reactive material called metakaolin, the company produces MKX, which can replace a sizeable portion of the clinker used in cement.

GT3 says MKX can replace up to 40% of traditional clinker and reduce associated carbon emissions by up to 30%, without compromising strength or durability.

That’s a pretty useful combination for concrete producers trying to keep costs under control while dealing with tighter environmental requirements.

And the beauty of it is that MKX can slot into existing concrete production systems. No need for manufacturers to go out and build entirely new plants just to use the stuff.

There’s a potential cost advantage, too.

If producers can replace some of their clinker with a competitively priced alternative, they’ve got another way to manage one of their biggest input costs.

The actual savings will depend on the mix and delivered material costs, but it’s easy to see why manufacturers might be interested.

GT3 is also developing MKX Ultra Fine, which targets silica fume, a specialist ingredient used in high-strength concrete.

That gives it another potential market beyond conventional cement replacement.

And the company is already getting some serious industry attention.

“We’re past the testing phase. It’s no longer a question of whether the product works,” said Banks.

Watch Long Shortz with Green360 Technologies: Scaling new concrete catalysts

Big customers already getting involved

Getting a new construction material into the hands of major concrete manufacturers is no small feat.

These companies aren’t exactly known for throwing caution to the wind when it comes to what goes into their concrete.

But GT3 is starting to make some genuine headway.

By September, concrete containing MKX had been used in more than 3500 cubic metres of pours across Melbourne, including works associated with the Suburban Rail Loop and Eastern Freeway.

That’s a sizeable jump from the company’s earlier reported volumes. And the customer list is starting to look pretty interesting.

GT3 has secured binding supply agreements with Holcim Australia, part of a major global building materials group, and Eifers Civil.

Each agreement covers up to 4800 tonnes of MKX over 12 months, depending on customer orders.

Put those together and you’re looking at potential demand for 9600 tonnes.

The Eifers agreement has a reported delivered price of $250 per tonne, which works out to a potential $1.2 million in revenue if the full volume is ordered.

For investors, that gives some idea of what growing commercial demand could mean for the business.

GT3 also has access to around 30,000 tonnes of annual processing capacity through an arrangement with Calix (ASX:CXL), using kaolin from its Pittong operation in Victoria.

So rather than having to spend a fortune building a new plant from scratch, GT3 already has a way to produce meaningful volumes.

And here’s an interesting number.

GT3’s current processing capacity would cover only about 3% of that estimated demand.

That doesn’t mean the company will sell every tonne it can produce, of course, but it does show just how much room there could be for alternative suppliers.

A much bigger race is taking shape

GT3 isn’t the only ASX company eyeing this opportunity.

Zeotech (ASX:ZEO) is developing AusPozz, another metakaolin-based cement replacement.

Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE) is taking a different route with EdenCrete, an admixture designed to improve concrete performance.

And we’re talking about a seriously big industry.

Australia consumes roughly 65 to 70 million tonnes of concrete every year, while global consumption runs into tens of billions of tonnes.

Even a small change in what goes into all that concrete could mean substantial demand for alternative ingredients.

Stockhead has not provided, endorsed or otherwise assumed responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Green360 Technologies is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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