Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the US and Puerto Rico in July 2013 reached about 8.1Mt, US Geological Survey statistics show, which translates to an 11 per cent increase in the same period of the year before.

Shipments for the year through to July were 45.1Mt, up slightly on the comparative period of the previous year.

The leading Portland-cement producing states in July were Missouri, California, Texas, Michigan and Florida (in descending order), which accounted for about 44 per cent of total shipments for the month. The leading consuming states, again in descending order, were Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois, together receiving about 36 per cent of July’s total shipments.

Clinker production totalled about 6.2Mt in July, a modest decline from July 2012 output. Production for the year through July was 38.6Mt, up slightly. The leading clinker-producing states in July 2013 were Texas, California, Missouri, Alabama and Florida, in descending order.

July 2013 imports of cement and clinker were up nearly 24 per cent YoY to 624,000t. Imports for the first seven months of the year totalled 3.92Mt, essentially unchanged from the same period of 2012.