USA and Puerto Rico see 1% slip in demand

Portland and blended cement consumption in the USA and Puerto Rico edged down by one per cent to 7.34Mt in March 2019 when compared with March 2018 when the market off-take was 7.417Mt, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The leading consuming states were Texas, California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina while the country’s biggest producing states were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Alabama. The five largest consuming states represented 46 per cent of the month’s shipments.

Masonry cement shipments totalled 199,000t in March 2019, down four per cent YoY. Consumption was strongest in Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and Georgia, which together accounted for 59% of masonry shipments.

Clinker production in the USA remained stable at 5.8Mt in March 2019 when compared with March 2018. The country’s leading clinker-producing states were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida, and Pennsylvania, which produced 52 per cent of the country’s clinker.

Domestic cement production was supplemented by 1.3Mt of cement and clinker imports, an increase of 38 per cent when compared with March 2018.

January-March 2019
In the first quarter of 2019, Portland and blended cement shipments int the USA and Puerto Rico were up 2.4 per cent YoY to 19.4Mt. Masonry shipments for the January-March 2019 period edged up to 552,000t when compared to 1Q18.

Clinker output during the three-month period advanced 2.7 per cent YoY to 15.7Mt.

Domestic supply was boosted by 3Mt of imported clinker and cement, representing a 24 per cent YoY increase, in the 1Q19. Canada was the country’s largest importer with an import volume of just under 68Mt, followed by Turkey (57.5Mt). Smaller but significant volumes were imported by Greece (29.7Mt), Mexico (26.9Mt), China (18.7Mt) and Sweden (11.5Mt).