US April shipments decline marginally

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA and Puerto Rico in April 2013 were about 6.7Mt, slightly down from the same month of the previous year, latest data from the US Geological Survey shows. Shipments for the year through to April were 22Mt, essentially unchanged on an annual comparative basis.

The leading Portland cement-producing states in April (in descending order) were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania and these shipped about 46 per cent of the total shipments for the month. The total consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, in descending order) received about 40 per cent of total April shipments.

Clinker production was about 5.6Mt in April, about three per cent more than the output in April 2012. Production for the year through April was 19.3Mt,  up slightly. The leading clinker-producing states in April were California, Texas, Missouri, Florida and Alabama.

Imports of cement and clinker in April 2013 of about 641,000t were nearly 10 per cent more than those of April of last year. Imports for the first four months of 2013 rose by 11 per cent to 1.9Mta.