PCA: FAST Act set to increase cement usage throughout the five-year program

With the passage of a five-year federal transportation bill, cement manufacturers will see a rise in consumption, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA).

The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act will provide more than US$305bn to maintain and improve the nation’s surface transportation. Cement consumption's largest impact will focus on authorisations from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

“FAST represents an average addition of 835,000t to the cement industry,” said Edward J Sullivan, chief economist and group vice-president at PCA. “Smaller increases occur in the near term (370,000t for 2016) and larger net increases occur in the out years of the forecast horizon (1.4Mt for 2020).”

FAST is seen largely as an improvement over the previous MAP-21. While funding levels are modestly higher, it also represents a multi-year commitment that allows states to engage in multi-year projects.