US first half shipments rise 15 per cent

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA and Puerto Rico for the six months to June reached 37Mt, up by about 15 per cent, according to the latest data from the US Geological Survey.

The leading producing states in June were Texas, Missouri, California, Michigan, and Florida, in descending order and accounted for 42 per cent of total output. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio, and Illinois, in descending order) received about 35 per cent of the June total shipments.

Clinker production for the year through June was 31.7Mt, up by 11 per cent. The leading clinker-producing states in June were California, Missouri, Texas, Florida, and Michigan, in descending order.

Shipments for June 2012 were 7.6Mt, this was almost five per cent higher than shipments in June 2011. Clinker production totalled 6.3 Mt for the month, about eight per cent higher than output in June 2011.

June 2012 imports of cement and clinker of about 712,000t were three per cent lower than those in June 2011. Imports for the year through June were 3.11Mt, up by almost nine per cent.