Martin Marietta, the second largest US aggregates supplier, increased first half turnover by 16.9 per cent to US$938.3m, with the EBITDA advancing by 29.3 per cent to US$184.2m. The aggregates division accounted for 92.5 per cent of turnover, with the remainder coming from magnesia products.  Total aggregates shipments during the period were 8.3 per cenet higher at 87.2Mt (Mst), with underlying volumes 7.6 per cent higher and average prices being up by 7.2 per cent. Martin Marietta remains positive about the outlook for the full year, expecting aggregates deliveries to show an increase of between four and six per cent, with prices advancing the 5.5-7 per cent range. This would suggest that the strongest price improvement would have been the second quarter, when there was an 8.3 per cent advance that was particularly pronounced in the group’s south-western and south-eastern regions.