US shipments for December 2017 rise by 3.5%

Source: CEMNET

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico in December 2017 were about 6.3Mt, up by 3.5 per cent from shipments in December 2016, reports the US Geological Survey.

The leading producing States for Portland and blended cement in December 2017 were California, Texas, Missouri, Florida and Alabama, in descending order. The leading cement-consuming States (Texas, California, Florida, Georgia and New York, in descending order) received about 43 per cent of the December shipments. Shipments for the full year were 95.5Mt, up by 2.4 per cent from those in 2016.

Clinker production totalled 6.6Mt in December 2017, up by nearly 20 per cent from the output in December 2016. The December 2016 output, however, was a low basis as it itself was 20 per cent lower than production in December 2015. The leading clinker-producing States in December 2017 were, in descending order, Texas, California, Missouri, Florida and Alabama.

Clinker production for the full year totalled 76.9Mt, up slightly from output in 2016.

However, data for clinker imports into the Seattle, WA, and the Detroit, MI, customs districts do not include material trucked in from Canada on an informal entry basis. Likewise, imports of cement into the El Paso, TX, district are missing significant informal entries from Mexico.

Imports increased in 2016 and in the 1Q17 at rates well in excess of overall cement consumption trends owing to a combination of slow recovery of domestic production, a strong dollar, and low ship chartering rates and bunker fuel costs.

More recently, however, import volumes have been erratic relative to the same months in 2016. December 2017 imports of cement and clinker of about 0.9Mt were 5.2 per cent higher than those in December 2016. Imports for the full year totalled 13.6Mt, including an adjustment to include nearly 28,000t of gray Portland cement imported in January into the San Francisco Customs district under a tariff code for another commodity. Even with this adjustment, imports for 2017 overall were essentially unchanged from the total in 2016.

Masonry cement shipments of about 162,000t in December 2017 were lower by 4.3 per cent from those in December 2016. The leading masonry-cement-consuming states were, in descending order, Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and Tennessee; these States received 60 per cent of the December shipments. Masonry cement shipments for the full year were 2.41Mt, essentially unchanged from those in 2016.

Source: CEMNET