US May shipments down 4.5% YoY

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the US and Puerto Rico in May 2015 fell by 4.5 per cent YoY to 7.8Mt, data from the US Geological Survey released yesterday shows.

Shipments for the year through May totalled 31.9Mt, up by 2.6 per cent for the same period in 2014. The leading producing states for Portland and blended cement in May were California, Missouri, Texas, Florida and Alabama, in descending order. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois, in descending order) received about 37 per cent of the May shipments.

Clinker production totalled 6.7Mt in May 2015, down by 5.8 per cent from the output in May 2014. Production for the year through May was 28.3Mt, up by 4.2 per cent from the same period in 2014. The leading clinker-producing states in May were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania, in descending order, and these accounted for about 46 per cent of May’s total.

May 2015 imports of cement and clinker of 1.1Mt were 35 per cent higher than those in May 2014. Imports for the year through May totalled 3.7Mt, up by about 40 per cent from the same period in 2014. Some of the growth in imports relative to production reflects higher consumption in some districts that have traditionally been significantly reliant on imports, as well as production constraints, including those related to still idle kilns in some other districts, the USGS notes.