Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico for the year through May 2014 were 31.2Mt, up by around six per cent compared to the same period of last year, latest data from the US Geological Survey shows.

In May alone, shipments rose by around six per cent to 8.1Mt. The leading Portland cement-producing states during the month were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Michigan, in descending order, accounting for about 44 per cent of the total output. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois, in descending order) received about 37 per cent of the May total shipments.

Clinker production totaled 7.14Mt in May 2014, up by six per cent from the output in May 2013. Production for the year through to the end of May 2014 totalled 27.20Mt, up by about four per cent YoY. The leading clinker-producing states in May were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Pennsylvania, in descending order, and these accounted for about 47 per cent of total output for the month.

May 2014 imports of cement and clinker of 826,000t were 27 per cent higher than those in May 2013. Imports for the year through May totaled 2.63Mt, up by about five per cent from the same period of 2013.