kostenintensive

Kostenintensive describes activities, projects, or sectors in which the overall cost burden is a decisive factor for feasibility and profitability. The term highlights that high costs, rather than output or revenue alone, shape decision making. Kostenintensive operations typically show substantial fixed costs or ongoing expenses that are difficult to reduce quickly, such as energy consumption, specialized materials, or intensive labor and regulatory compliance.

Examples include energy-intensive industries (chemicals, metals, cement), data centers and telecommunications infrastructure, mining, healthcare with advanced equipment, and long-haul transport like aviation. The concept also applies to projects with complex supply chains or high capital investments where long payback periods exist.

Implications and management: Companies and policymakers analyze cost intensity when budgeting, pricing, and assessing risk. High cost intensity can require economies of scale, long-term financing, hedging against input price volatility, and robust cost-control measures. Efficiency improvements and technology substitutions can reduce cost intensity.

Measurement and relation to other terms: Kostenintensive is related to but distinct from kapitalintensiv (capital-intensive). While the latter emphasizes upfront capital outlays, kostenintensive focuses on total or ongoing costs. Cost-to-output ratios, life-cycle cost analysis, and total cost of ownership are used to quantify cost intensity.