A report issued by the American Cement Association’s (ACA) market intelligence team predicts the US will need approximately 1Mt of cement to construct data centres that will house Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology over the next few years.
Based on current estimates, data center construction is expected to consume approximately 247,000t of cement in 2025, and total about 860,000t over the next three years.
The analysts also found that over the past decade, inflation-adjusted spending on data centres has grown by nearly 850 per cent, with a five per cent jump last year alone. By 2027, forecasters expect the number of data centres in the US to reach 6,000. Currently, there are 5,426. Annual spending on data centres is now around US$27.4bn.
“President Trump has said he’s determined to make the US the global leader in AI, and America’s cement manufacturers want to provide the materials to build the infrastructure necessary to make that possible,” said Mike Ireland, ACA’s president and CEO.
“Such facilities are engineered primarily for function and resilience. Concrete—made with cement—is the optimal construction material, as it is fire resistant, offers thermal stability, provides unparalleled physical security, and has long-term structural integrity. There really is no other viable material for such an important nationwide effort.”
The report notes that data centres’ contribution will account for 25.7 per cent of office-related construction and be comparatively lower than conventional office buildings, which are designed with occupant comfort and general utility in mind, whereas data centres are engineered primarily for function and resilience.
