Cement shortage reaches Southern Colorado

Cement shortage reaches Southern Colorado
13 September 2005


Holcim Cement recently joined the long list of cement makers temporarily rationing shipments, citing heavy demand, plant manager Rob Davies said.

The plant was the last cement maker in the US to avoid rationing, Davies said. "Most have been on allocation for several months," Davies said. Allocation is an industry term for rationing. "Demand for cement is sky high and we have more demand for cement than cement," Davies said this week as area contractors and suppliers began reporting getting notices of the rationing move.

The shortages are not the result of any production problems, he said. A check with several Pueblo contractors found no major building projects suspended due to the growing shortages; however, the rationing is causing builders to scramble to refine scheduling.

"It requires pretty good logistics," said Pueblo contractor Boney Cosyleon, whose company, Byerly & Cosyleon Inc., is in the middle of constructing a highway upgrade in the Durango area.

Holcim is one of four cement plants that are the main feeders of the Colorado market, according to Cosyleon. The others operate in Denver, Wyoming and South Dakota.

The cement and construction industry hopes the shortage lasts for only weeks and not months, resulting in limited disruptions, the executives said.

Published under Cement News