US Portland and blended cement shipments slip 1% in December

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA reached 6.176Mt in December 2018, according to the latest data from the US Geological Survey (USGS). When compared with a volume of 6.244Mt in December 2017, this represents a 1.1 per cent YoY decrease.

The leading cement-consuming states were Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and New York, which accounted for 44 per cent of the December shipments.

The total includes 838,444t of imports in addition to 5.337Mt delivered by US producers. Imports advanced by 15 per cent from 729,261t in December 2017. However, US producers saw their domestic deliveries slip by 3.2 per cent YoY from 5.515Mt.

The leading producing states in December 2018 were, in descending order, Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Alabama.

In terms of masonry cements, shipments totalled 150,000t, down by 7.3 per cent YoY. Leading consuming states were Florida, Texas, California, Georgia and North Carolina, with a combined share of 61 per cent of the US masonry cement market.

Clinker production (excluding Puerto Rico) slipped slightly YoY to 6.5Mt in December 2018. Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Alabama were the country’s key clinker-producing states.

Full-year 2018
In the full-year 2018, total Portland and blended shipments reached 97.678Mt, up 2.3 per cent from 95.46Mt in 2017. Imports increased by 10.1 per cent from 11.256Mt in 2017 to 12.388Mt last year while domestic sales by US producers amounted to 85.29Mt, a 1.3 per cent YoY rise from 84.204Mt in 2017.

Masonry cement deliveries remained stable at 2.4Mt in 2018.

There was also no change in clinker output in 2018, keeping level with the 77Mt reported in 2017.