Experts confirm:

There is a lot of Chinese granite in Salzburg

The stone for the construction work in Reichenhaller Strasse in the city of Salzburg came from China. Stone experts Michael and Martin Deisl from Oberalm are not the least bit surprised.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The city of Salzburg is currently having granite from the Far East laid for road construction. Experts are not the least bit surprised - Krone readers, on the other hand, are baffled and outraged by the latest revelations. 

"Unbelievable." Or: "And people are trying to convince me that I should look after the environment." And: "You have to come up with an idea like that first." These are just three of countless reader reactions to the "Krone" revelations on Monday. As reported, workers are currently laying new kerbstones in Reichenhaller Straße on behalf of the City of Salzburg. The granite blocks have a long journey behind them - they come from China, thousands of kilometers away.

Granite from China is up to three times cheaper
An isolated case? Certainly not. "It's not uncommon in road construction," emphasize Martin and Michael Deisl in unison. The brothers are managing directors of "Deisl Stein" in Oberalm. They are the second generation to run the company and supply stonemasons at home and abroad. "Granite is two to three times cheaper than local products," they say - including any risks during transportation. "Granite from China is not uncommon, especially for sidewalks," the experts conclude. This also applies to public sector contracts. "It must be clearly stated in the tenders that domestic stone must be used. However, this is usually not the case for smaller projects such as sidewalk renovations," explain the brothers.

This kerbstone comes from faraway China(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

They hardly have any stone from China in their range themselves. "It's no longer as interesting for private customers as it used to be, demand has dropped enormously." However, they have stones from South America, India and Portugal in their Oberalm depot. Because: "The stone industry has always been international."

"The origin of the stones was not contractually regulated"
How does the city of Salzburg justify the use of Chinese granite? Unsurprisingly, the price. The choice of stone was a decision made by the construction company. It was the "clear best bidder", they say. The origin of the materials was not specified in the tender.