Asphalt factory importing bitumen

[sheap]

I built an asphalt factory for the sole purpose of building, i have gravel link to it and buying the other ressource, the other ressource is quite expensive, is it still better than importing asphalt in any case ?

[jcmiller101]

Asphalt cannot be imported, you can only import bitumen - which is expensive (& earns good money when exported.)
You can buy it with a tanker at the border & empty it into a storage tank yourself to reduce delivery costs tho. Further from border = higher delivery charges.

[Bufnitza]

It's not necessary to use an extra storage for bitumen, though. The integrated import bay on the Asphalt plant is generous enough that you can import the bitumen via trucks directly into it (just add the plant as a stop for your truck). Alternatively, use Distribution Offices to keep it stocked but make sure you only select "bitumen" as good, otherwise your dump trucks will also stock it with gravel if the import buffer becomes too low.

[ChalwaBechatex]

Originally posted by Bufnitza:

It's not necessary to use an extra storage for bitumen, though.

Depends on your constructions scale :D
I use modded small 100t tank. Vanilla for this purpouse is overkill.

Problem with direct delivery is also that asphalt plant generates big traffic.

[sheap]

Originally posted by Bufnitza:

It's not necessary to use an extra storage for bitumen, though. The integrated import bay on the Asphalt plant is generous enough that you can import the bitumen via trucks directly into it (just add the plant as a stop for your truck). Alternatively, use Distribution Offices to keep it stocked but make sure you only select "bitumen" as good, otherwise your dump trucks will also stock it with gravel if the import buffer becomes too low.

That's what I did, but bitumen is quite expensive to import, is it still worth it in the end compare to construct in rouble ? (too lazy to do the math, i go with the general idea that if I produce something it's always worth it even if i have to import some ressource for production)

[Bufnitza]

Importing bitumen and producing asphalt then building manually will always be cheaper if you think in pure money terms, but you have to consider the following aspects:
* How much money am I actually saving? Is it 5% or 50%? Generally, roads have a rather low margin of gain when built manually.
* How much time am I actually saving? One issue with roads is that while under construction, they cannot be used, so it complicates your infrastructure, especially in busy sections, so you might actually *lose* money on other fronts because your buses and trucks are being detoured and late to their usual destinations.
* Do I actually care only about the economic aspect or is it also roleplaying? What I mean is that if you don't care about roleplaying, you can mix self-building with quick-building and not care, just to be the most efficient. If you're roleplaying, though, you might actually see the aforementioned things (bitumen import price, road jams, etc) as challenges.

There's no "right" way to play. Follow your heart :)

[sheap]

Originally posted by Bufnitza:

Importing bitumen and producing asphalt then building manually will always be cheaper if you think in pure money terms, but you have to consider the following aspects:
* How much money am I actually saving? Is it 5% or 50%? Generally, roads have a rather low margin of gain when built manually.
* How much time am I actually saving? One issue with roads is that while under construction, they cannot be used, so it complicates your infrastructure, especially in busy sections, so you might actually *lose* money on other fronts because your buses and trucks are being detoured and late to their usual destinations.
* Do I actually care only about the economic aspect or is it also roleplaying? What I mean is that if you don't care about roleplaying, you can mix self-building with quick-building and not care, just to be the most efficient. If you're roleplaying, though, you might actually see the aforementioned things (bitumen import price, road jams, etc) as challenges.

There's no "right" way to play. Follow your heart :)

That's my first city, so my approach is more about building anything I need to be the as self sufficient as possible while keeping a positive income ; my money comes mostly from coal at the moment.

So if as you said, it'll always be better producing myself I am happy with that even if it's not the best way to make money :)

[MrKrabs]

I use to solve it this way:
I often try to attach a storage beside any plant. That way I can guarantee production if delivery stuck at any stage. Not always possible though.
See here. At the right edge of the screenshot I attached a small tank ( 100 ton ) to an asphalt plant and told a DO to keep the filled 20 % with bitumen.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2516255191

[thegrandmystic]

Originally posted by Bechatex:

Originally posted by Bufnitza:

It's not necessary to use an extra storage for bitumen, though.

Depends on your constructions scale :D
I use modded small 100t tank. Vanilla for this purpouse is overkill.

Problem with direct delivery is also that asphalt plant generates big traffic.

Same! I love the little 100t and other smaller-sized tanks for exactly places like the asphalt plant or extra fuel to ensure a diesel train refueling station remains pretty topped off. If folks are interested in mods, there are some nice asphalt plants that also help with the traffic flow problem, either allowing for two trucks to fill up simultaneously or making them one-way pass-through for better flow (they also tend to use 10 or more workers instead of the base game's 5 which I find also helps with ensuring at least one employee is staffing the plant at all times as with 5 there is sometimes a minor gap that shuts the plant down temporarily and sends the trucks on their merry way with less than optimal load).