Portland and blended cement shipments in the USA fell 8.4 per cent to 6.039Mt in December 2016 from 6.59Mt in December 2015, according to preliminary data from the US Geological Survey (USGS).

US producers delivered 5.423Mt to domestic markets, down 8.3 per cent from the year-ago period, when they shipped 5.916Mt. Meanwhile imports dropped to 616,423t from 674,530t in December 2015.

However, full-year 2016 data show Portland and blended cement deliveries edging up two per cent to 93.307Mt from 91.494Mt in 2015. Some 82.658Mt was supplied by US cement producers who reported a one per cent increase of domestic sales to 82.658Mt in 2016 from 81.874Mt the year before. Importers increased their volumes by 7.2 per cent to 10.307Mt from 9.619Mt in 2015.

Masonry cement sales fell 7.6 per cent in December 2016 to 177,959t from 192,654t in December 2015. US producers delivered 176,703t, or 7.5 per cent below the December 2015 level of 192,654t. Imports fell by nearly a quarter from 1631t to 1256t in the last month of 2016.

Full-year 2016 masonry cement sales in the US rose 4.1 per cent YoY from 2.368Mt to 2.466Mt. Domestic sales by US producers increased 4.2 per cent from 2.347Mt in 2015 to 2.445Mt one year later. Imports of masonry cement into the US were largely stable at 21,088t.