US shipments eight-month shipments up 3.5%

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico in the eight months through August 2015 totalled 59.1Mt, up by 3.5 per cent compared to the same period of last year, the latest data from the US Geological Survey shows.

In August 2015 shipments reached about 9.1Mt, up from four per cent in the same month of last year.

The leading producing states for Portland and blended cement in August were Texas, Missouri, California, Michigan and Florida, in descending order, which accounted for 41 per cent of total shipments during the month. The leading cement-consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, descending order) received about 37 per cent of the August shipments.

Clinker production totalled 7Mt in August 2015, up slightly from the output in August 2014. Production for the year through August was 49.3Mt, up by 3.3 per cent from the same period in 2014. The leading clinker-producing states in August were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Alabama.

August 2015 imports of cement and clinker of about 1.2Mt were 30 per cent higher than those in August 2014. Imports for the year through August totalled 7.2Mt, up by nearly 33 per cent from the same period in 2014.