USGS reports on cement in September 2016

Total shipments of portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico in September 2016 were about 8.8 million t, down by 2.8% from sales in September 2015.

The leading producing States for portland and blended cement in September 2016 were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida, and Michigan, in descending order and these accounted for about 41% of the national total. The leading cement-consuming States (Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio, in descending order) received 37% of the September shipments.

Sales for January through September totalled 70.4 million t, up by 3.1% from those in the same period in 2015. Clinker production totalled 6.5 million t in September 2016, down by 2.9% from the output in September 2015.

The leading clinker-producing States in September were, in descending order, Texas, California, Missouri, Florida, and Pennsylvania; these accounted for 46% of the total output for the month. Production for January through September totalled 56.7 million t, up slightly from the same period in 2015.

Masonry cement shipments of about 215 000 t in September 2016 were down by 3.4% from those in September 2015. The leading masonry-cement-consuming States were, in descending order, Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina, and Georgia; these received about 52% of September’s shipments. Shipments for January through September 2016 were 1.9 million t, up by 4.4% from shipments in the same period in 2015.

For some time, imports have been increasing at rates generally higher than for cement sales levels overall. In part, this reflects the collapse of imports during the recession (hence a low basis for comparison), but also the relatively low cost of imports resulting from a combination of low bunker fuel costs, modest ship chartering rates, increased ship availability, and a strong dollar. In some regions, imports are offsetting domestic production constraints related to difficulties in bringing long-idle extra kilns back online. Also, clinker imports have increased, likely temporarily, ahead of expected disruptions to kiln output at certain plants that are undergoing upgrades. Although September 2016 imports of cement and clinker of about 1.2 million t were 2% lower than in September 2015, imports for January through September totalled 10.3 million t, up by about 21% from those of the same period in 2015.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/15122016/usgs-reports-on-cement-in-september-2016/