Who’s who in North American cement imports?
To understand the dynamics of the current cement import situation in North America it is important to look behind the statistics. Why is there a wave of new terminals with so many of the existing terminals still mothballed? Where will the further growth of imports materialise? Who will be the key players? To get the answers we need to know who’s who in North American imports. By Ad Ligthart and Marcia Ligthart, Cement Distribution Consultants, The Netherlands.
Figure 1: OPC, white and blended cement surplus-shortage situation in the USA, 2017. View high-quality image here
In 2018 US seaborne imports of cement and clinker are estimated to have been 10.7Mt, representing an increase of 0.8Mt, or eight per cent, when compared with 2017. This level is considerably higher than the 3Mt of seaborne imports in 2010, representing the bleakest point of the Great Recession but still far removed from the 30.3Mt peak of 2006.
