US shipments edge ahead in 2011

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico for December 2011 were 4.8Mt. This was 16% higher than shipments in December 2010.Although sales continued a trend of increases begun in May, the exceptionally large increase in December was in part because of unexpectedly mild weather conditions. Shipments for 2011 were 72.2Mt, up by 3% from those of 2010.

The leading producing states in December were Texas, California, Missouri, Florida, and Pennsylvania, in descending order, and accounted for almost 46% of the total production. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, in descending order) received about 39% of the December total shipments.

Clinker production totaled 4.4Mt in December, 27% higher than output in December 2010, the increase likely was in preparation for kiln shutdowns for maintenance early in 2012.

Production for the year was 61.8Mt, slightly higher than that for 2010. The leading clinker-producing states in December were California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Michigan, in descending order, and these together accounted for 45% of the December total.

December 2011 imports of cement and clinker of about 443,000t were about 8% lower than those in December 2010. Imports for the year totaled 6.54Mt, down by about 3% from those for 2010.