US August shipments down sharply by 7% YoY

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement, including imports, in the US and Puerto Rico in August 2020 fell by seven per cent YoY to 9.6Mt, according to the latest data by the US Geological Survey (USGS).

In descending order, the leading producing states during the month were Missouri, Texas, California, Florida, and Michigan – accounting for 41 per cent of cement produced. The leading consuming states of Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Illinois, received 37 per cent of August shipments.

Masonry cement shipments totalled 207,000t, down by five per cent YoY.

August 2020 imports of cement and clinker totalled 1.7Mt, a slight increase from imports in August 2019.

Clinker production, excluding Puerto Rico, totalled 7.1Mt for the month under review, a decrease of three per cent compared to August 2019. The leading clinker-producing states in August 2020 were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Alabama in that order.

January-August 2020
Shipments for the year through August 2020 reached 67.4Mt, a slight increase from the same period of 2019. Masonry shipments over the 8M20 fell by two per cent YoY to 1.6Mt.

Imports for the 8M20 totalled 10.9Mt, essentially unchanged from those for the same period of 2019.

Clinker production during January-August totalled 50.7Mt, again largely consistent with the year-ago period.

The USGS report added that despite reports of one plant being idled in April due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions "the US cement industry has shown no prolonged or widespread negative effects from the pandemic."