This article is timeless and should be accurate for any version of the game.
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Metal beams needed to produce basic structures and vehicles at Facilities.
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— In-game description
Construction Materials (also known as con mats or cmats) are a type of facility material used in various recipes, either to construct various facilities and their upgrades, or for other facility materials, equipment, and vehicles.
Construction Materials in Facility personal orders can be retrieved as reservable crates on foot or from a logistics vehicle with RMB > "Retrieve as crate" (20 per crate).
Uses
Construction Materials are only used in facility-related production.
Used in the construction of Facilities and their upgrades
It can be transported by almost any vehicle with inventory slots, but is most commonly transported by Trucks and Small Flatbed Car. Although it can also be transported by shipping vehicles carrying Material Pallets or Shipping Containers (as crates), it is much less efficient.
Tips
Given the speed and the carrying capacity of vehicles, it is more efficient to create Construction Materials next to a Resource Field or Resource Mine and send materials by truck to a facility rather than shipping resources to a far facility until large train appears[1]. On the field facilities can be a good practice to save time and duplicated low yield facilities thus saving maintenance modifier and resources. In late war on the Field Construction Materials can be switched to Maintenance Supplies or Assembly Materials.
Trivia
When 1.50 Inferno was released, Construction Materials could also make Garrison Supplies in a Maintenance Tunnel, which made 10 Supplies with one Construction Material and 2 MW of power. This was later removed in Update 1.52, with the rework of the decay mechanics, which reworked the Maintenance Tunnel.
Construction Materials are currently the only facility material that can packed into crates, which gives them an easier storage potential compared to other materials.
Gallery
A Material Transfer Station containing Construction Materials, 75mm shells, and 120mm shells
Notes and References
↑Speed capacity equivalent of vehicles : Truck with material : 17.4x1500=26k, Flatbed with Salvage : 9.5x5000/10=5k, large Train with material : 8x15x1200=140k, Freighter with Salvage: 5.4x5000x5/10=14k, Large Train with salvage: 8x15x5000/10=60k.