US November shipments up 5%

Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico for November 2011 were 6.2Mt, data from the US Geological Survey showed. This was 5% higher than shipments in November 2010. Shipments for the year through November were 67.3 Mt, slightly higher than those of the same period in 2010.

The leading producing states in November were Texas, California, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, in descending order and accounted for about 42% of the total production. The leading consuming states (Texas, California, Florida, Ohio, and Illinois, in descending order) received about 36% of the November total shipments.

Clinker production totaled 6Mt in November, 12% higher than output in November 2010. Production for the year through November was 57.4Mt, slightly higher than that for the same period in 2010. The leading clinker-producing states in November were California, Missouri, Texas, California,
Pennsylvania, and Alabama, in descending order.

There has recently been optimism that US construction market recovery might be getting underway, as some indicators have trended positively. However Bernstein Research believe this optimism is premature. In a recent research note it said: “ We do not yet see the drivers in place to support the anticipated strong residential-led recovery. Furthermore, the current political gridlock makes it unlikely we will see any short term measures that significantly change overall construction spend. As a result we do not see major changes to our overall forecast. Robust recovery in the US construction market will happen, but this is not the story for 2012.”