Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico for the year through July totalled 50Mt, up by 3.4 per cent in the same period in 2014, latest data from the US Geological Survey shows.

In July shipments reached  9.3Mt, up slightly from the level in July 2014. The leading cement-consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois in descending order) received about 37 per cent of the July shipments.

The leading producing states for Portland and blended cement in July were Texas, California, Missouri, Michigan and Alabama, in descending order.

Clinker production totalled 7Mt in July 2015, down by about three per cent from the output in July 2014. Production for the year through July was 42.3Mt, up by 3.4 per cent from the same period of 2014. the leading clinker-producing states in July were California, Texas, Missouri, Florida and Alabama.

July 2015 imports of cement and clinker of about 1.1Mt were 13 per cent higher than those in July 22014. Imports for the year through July totalled 6Mt, up by ab out 33 per cent from the same period last year.