Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA and Puerto Rico rose 3.4 per cent YoY to 8.5Mt in July, according to data by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The leading producing states were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Michigan (in descending order) and these accounted for 42 per cent of July sales.

The top-five cement-consuming states were Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and New York (in descending order) which received 38 per cent of total July shipments.

Shipment for the first seven months of 2017 reached 53.2Mt, reflecting a two per cent increase when compared with 7M16.

Masonry cement
Masonry cement shipments remained stable when compared with July 2016, standing at 0.202Mt. Demand for this type of cement was particularly strong in Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and Georgia (in descending order), which received 54 per cent of total US shipments in July.

Masonry cement shipments for the 7M17 advanced slightly YoY to 1.42Mt.

Clinker production
Clinker production saw 4.6 per cent growth YoY in July 2017 with volumes of 7.2Mt. The leading clinker-producing states were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania in descending order. They accounted for 48 per cent of total clinker production in July.

In the January-July 2017 period clinker output remained unchanged when compared with the first seven months of 2016 and totalled 43Mt.

Imports
The USGS also reported that clinker import levels have returned to more normal levels following the completion of kiln line upgrades at certain cement plants. For some time imports had been rising at rates higher than cement consumption growth. This partly reflected the collapse of imports during the recession but factors such as low bunker fuel costs, modest ship chartering rates, increased ship availability and a strong dollar also came into play. As a result, in July 2017 cement and clinker imports were nearly five per cent lower at 1.4Mt when compared with the year-ago period. Imports for the first seven months reached 7.7Mt, unchanged from 7M16.