Portland and blended cement shipments in the US and Puerto Rico in the first eight months of this year reached 59.12Mt, preliminary data from the US Geological Survey shows.

Of the total shipments, domestic dispatches accounted for 53.21Mt and imports represented 5.9Mt, the figures reveal.

August 2015 shipments reached 9.080Mt, comprising 8.180Mt of domestic dispatches and 900,191t of imports.

Clinker production for the eight-month period reached 49.39Mt, while August 2015 output was 7.79Mt.