Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA and Puerto Rico in July increased by 9.4 per cent YoY to 9.3Mt, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Deliveries for the first seven months of 2017 rose by 3.8 per cent to 55.2Mt.
The leading consuming states for Portland and blended cement in July 2018 were Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois, which received around 37 per cent of total supply. The leading producing states were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Michigan and these accounted for 40 per cent of total domestic shipments.
Masonry cement shipments advanced 12.9 per cent YoY 228,000t in July 2018. For the January-July period deliveries remained unchanged at 1.42Mt. Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and Georgia accounted for around 60 per cent of the take-off in July.
Clinker output in the USA (excluding Puerto Rico) edged up to 7.3Mt in July 2018 while production for 7M18 reached the 43Mt mark. Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania shipped around 48 per cent of deliveries.
Cement and clinker imports totalled around 1.6Mt in July, representing a 13.9 per cent increase YoY. This includes 1.3Mt of Portland and blended cements, and 2009 of masonry cement. Imports for the first seven months advanced by 10.5 per cent to 8.5Mt when compared with 7M17. Portland and blended cements accounted for the largest share at 6.7Mt, while some 10,620t of masonry cement entered the country.
