US and Puerto Rico May shipments up 8.2%

Portland and blended cement shipments in the US and Puerto Rico in May 2017 reached 8.8Mt, up by about 8.2 per cent YoY, according to data presented in the latest USGS Mineral Industry Surveys publication.

The leading producing states were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Michigan, in descending order, which together accounted for 42 per cent of the months’s total sales. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and New York, in descending order) received about 40 per cent of the May shipments. Shipments for the year through May were 35.4Mt, up by about two per cent from those in the same period in 2016.

Clinker production totalled in 7.1Mt in May 2017, up slightly from the output in May 2016. The leading clinker-producing states in May were, in descending order, Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania, accounting for 49 per cent of the month’s total production. Clinker output for the year through May was down slightly to 29Mt compared to the same period of 2016,\

After an uncharacterised decrease of 26 per cent YoY in April, May 2017 cement imports of about 1.4Mt were almost two per cent higher than those in May 2016. Imports for the year through May totalled 4.9Mt, down slightly from those of the same period in 2016, however, within the 2017 year-to-date total, January imports were understated by nearly 28,0000t of grey Portland cement imported into the San Francisco Customs district under a tariff code for another commodity.