Alabama hit by cement shortage

Officials with the Alabama Concrete Industries Association said Alabama saw a 14 per cent increase in the demand for concrete last year, but the current cement shortage might cause some projects to be delayed.

"You can't just order concrete today and think you’ll get it next week," President of Alabama Concrete Industries Association, John Sorrell, said. "As soon as cement is made in the mills right now, it is going right into the tankers to be shipped to the ready-mix trucks."

Mr Sorrell said there had been a high demand for concrete in the winter months, which is usually when plants stock up inventory. During spring months, Alabama’s five cement plants have to shut down for routine maintenance and he said it is all adding to the shortage.

"That is affecting everything from the home builder building a slab for a new home, to the commercial contractor building an Amazon, to the guy who is building a bridge or pouring a safety barrier. Those projects can't get the supplies they need to be able to build as quickly as the contractor would like to."

Mr Sorrell said contractors are already waiting two to three weeks for some shipments because of the nationwide truck driver shortage. He said they expect that to just get worse now that there is also a cement supply issue.

"We sent a letter out recently to contractors and to road builders saying ‘please understand there will be some slow downs, but we will supply you as quickly as possible’," he said.

Sorrell said while slowdowns to road projects, commercial and residential real estate projects will likely happen, they are not expected to last long enough to cancel the next home improvement plans.

Officials with the Road Builder’s Association said they are waiting on truck deliveries for 2-3weeks and now with the cement shortage, they think it will be around 4-6 weeks.