USA: GCC Dacotah unveils US$90m investment

GCC Dacotah has announced a US$90m investment to upgrade and restart Kiln Line 6 at its cement plant in Rapid City, South Dakota. Mayor Steve Allender welcomed the news. "Construction is a major industry in Rapid City and the region, and this cement plant has a long history of providing cement for the state and region. It's very good for Rapid City. We are a growing community; the business community is growing. I think that's positive for all of us. There's consumer confidence, there's business confidence, and I hope this is a good sign that we are seeing an upturn," said Mayor Allender.

In addition to the growth in the Rapid City area, decisions are being made on a state level that are impacting the need for concrete and cement – particularly South Dakota's dedication to repairing crumbling infrastructure.

"South Dakota is investing in infrastructure, and by that we mean highways and roads that use concrete and cement,” said Governor Dennis Daugaard. “They know the demand is going up here as we use cement here in our roadways, and so that is part of the decision. Not only is the business climate good that makes it profitable to produce here, but they know the demand is also local."

Mr Daugaard was bullish about prospects for national cement consumption as well. "We know that at the national level the demand for cement is starting to outpace the ability to produce it. In fact, next year we expect demand will be greater than our national capacity to produce cement. So we're going to have to start importing cement if we don't have producers in America that step up their capacity, and that GCC is doing so and doing it here in South Dakota," said Mr Daugaard.