Raw Materials & Price Collapse Guide
Advanced production efficiency and economic foundations
Why Raw Material Buildings Matter
Raw material production buildings form the backbone of every economy in EU5. While they're not very efficient by themselves, they perform critical roles: filling production gaps for goods like fiber crops or coal, enabling price collapse on construction costs, and creating the foundation that makes your urban buildings profitable.
Most of these buildings are available in rural areas—some only in rural areas. Understanding how to maximize their value through proper placement and production efficiency is essential for building a strong economy.
Fill Production Gaps
Access goods like fiber crops, coal, or iron that may not exist as RGOs in your territory.
Enable Price Collapse
Local production drives down prices, giving massive discounts on buildings and RGOs.
Support Urban Industry
Create the inputs that urban buildings need to operate profitably.
Rural vs Urban Placement Strategy
CriticalWhy Rural is Superior for Raw Materials
+100% Maximum RGO Size in rural locations
Raw material buildings scale with RGO size, not development—double the RGO size means double the max building levels
High population employment per building (~1000 pops/level)
You run out of pops before building slots—rural's bonus to population growth helps sustain these buildings
Access to force multiplier buildings (Windmill, Sawmill, etc.)
Rural-only buildings that add +10-20% output to specific RGOs for minimal cost
No urban food production penalty
Urban locations have reduced food output—rural preserves your food-producing breadbaskets
Placement Decision Framework
| Factor | Urban | Rural |
|---|---|---|
| Max Building Levels | High (dev-based, 100+) | Low (RGO-based, ~13) |
| Pop Employment/Building | Low (~200 per level) | High (~1000 per level) |
| RGO Size Bonus | +5 (cities only) | +100% |
| Force Multipliers | ❌ Not available | ✅ Windmill, Sawmill, etc. |
| Food Production | Penalty to output | Bonus to output |
Building-by-Building Breakdown
Lumber Province Strategy
Many raw material buildings use lumber as their only input: Charcoal Kiln, Tar Kiln, and others. If you build these in a province that produces lumber (either from RGO or Lumber Mill), you get +10% production efficiency. This sounds small, but as we'll see in the math section, it can represent 25%+ of the building's total value.
When you see a 30,000+ pop province with a lumber RGO, your first instinct might be to urbanize. But consider: that province is perfect for stacking Charcoal Kilns and Tar Kilns at high building levels (thanks to rural +100% RGO size bonus) with production efficiency bonuses. It may provide more economic value as a rural industrial province than as an urban center.
Buildings That Benefit From Lumber Province Placement
- Charcoal Kiln — +10% production efficiency (lumber input)
- Tar Kiln — +10% production efficiency (lumber input)
- Clay Pit — +10% production efficiency (lumber input)
- Sawmill — Force multiplier for lumber RGO output
Production Efficiency Deep Dive
The Core Problem: Razor-Thin Margins
Most raw material buildings have a net efficiency of only 0.2 to 0.25—barely break-even. Compare this to the Tools Guild at 0.75 net efficiency. This matters because...
Salt Collector Example:
- Output: 3 salt × 4 base price = 1.2 total output
- Input: 2 clay × 0.5 base price = 1.0 total input
- Net efficiency: 1.2 - 1.0 = 0.2
Why 10% Production Efficiency = 60% Value Increase
Production efficiency only increases output, NOT input costs. When margins are thin, small output increases create massive percentage gains in net value.
Salt Collector with +10% Production Efficiency:
- New output: 1.2 × 1.10 = 1.32
- Input (unchanged): 1.0
- New net efficiency: 1.32 - 1.0 = 0.32
- Value increase: 0.32 / 0.2 = 60% more profit!
Real Example: Charcoal Kiln at 28% Production Efficiency
With 28% production efficiency on a Charcoal Kiln (from lumber province + tech bonuses):
- ~2/3 of the building's value comes from production efficiency alone
- ~25% of total profit comes specifically from being in a lumber province (+10% PE)
- Input efficiency bonus: You also need less lumber to produce the same coal, reducing strain on lumber mills
The Critical Economic Loop
Tools → Iron → Coal → Lumber → Tools
This loop powers your entire industrial economy
Tools Guild
needs Iron
Bog Iron Smelter
needs Coal
Charcoal Kiln
needs Lumber
Lumber Mill
needs Tools
The problem: 3/4 of this loop (everything except Tools Guild) is barely break-even without production efficiency. The loop only becomes profitable when you add production efficiency to the supporting buildings.
The optimization: With 20-30% production efficiency on your Charcoal Kilns and Lumber Mills, you need fewer of these less efficient buildings. If you can build 50 total buildings and normally need 13 of each loop component, production efficiency might let you drop to 11 of the support buildings—freeing 6 more slots for the highly profitable Tools Guild.
Price Collapse Mechanics
Effective Supply & Demand Weighting
Prices aren't determined by actual supply/demand, but by effective supply/demand weighted by source:
Price Thresholds for Building Discounts
- RGOs: Only need ~-5% price for discount to kick in
- Roads: Need ~-11% price for maximum discount
- Urban Buildings: Masonry collapse is easier to achieve than lumber
- Maximum discount: -33% construction cost at deep price collapse
Early Game Setup Strategy
ChecklistPrice Collapse Setup
Check lumber supply in your starting market
Look at supply vs demand and burger trade amounts
CLOSE the Carpentry Guild temporarily
Carpentry Guild consumes massive amounts of lumber, preventing price collapse
CLOSE the Granary temporarily
Granaries consume masonry, making mason price collapse harder
Build lumber mills until local production > consumption
Surplus lumber will start pushing prices down
Build masons until masonry price starts dropping
Build in stone/clay provinces for production efficiency
Do your building spree with cheap construction costs
Take advantage of discounts before prices recover
Reopen Carpentry Guild and Granary
Once construction rush is complete, these buildings provide ongoing value
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Importing lumber/masonry expecting price collapse
Imports have the lowest weight for price calculation. You must produce locally to collapse prices.
Urbanizing all lumber RGO provinces
You lose the +10% production efficiency bonus for charcoal kilns, tar kilns, and other lumber-input buildings.
Building Rural Cloth Makers
Worst PM in the game. Just urbanize and build Spinners Guilds instead.
Ignoring production efficiency placement
Building a Charcoal Kiln in a random province vs one with lumber can mean 25% less profit.
Leaving Carpentry Guild open during price collapse phase
Temporarily close lumber-consuming buildings to achieve faster price collapse for your building spree.