Total shipments of Portland and blended cement, including imports, in the US and Puerto Rico amounted to 8.502Mt in March 2026, up 5.1 per cent YoY from the 8.092Mt recorded in March 2025.
Excluding for sales to Puerto Rico and overseas territories, cement consumption in the US rose 4.8 per cent YoY in March, coming in at 8.380Mt, compared to 7.996Mt a year earlier.
The key producing states for Portland and blended cement were, in descending order, Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Alabama. The key consuming states were, in descending order, Texas, California, Florida, Arizona and Georgia accounting for 45 per cent of cement consumed.
Blended cement shipments amounted to 5.344Mt in March, up 3.5 per cent YoY from 5.164Mt a year earlier, with Texas the leading consumer.
Clinker production, excluding Puerto Rico, amounted to 5.074Mt, up 1.1 per cent YoY from 5.020Mt a year earlier, with Texas the California producer.
Imports of cement and clinker amounted to 2.161Mt in March 2026, up 23.6 per cent YoY from 1.748Mt in March 2025.
Imported clinker amounted to 108,597t, up from 297t a year earlier.
January-March 2026
Total shipments of Portland and blended cement, including imports, in the US and Puerto Rico amounted to 21.3Mt in the first quarter of 2026, up 6.5 per cent YoY from the same period of 2025.
Excluding for sales to Puerto Rico and overseas territories, cement consumption in the US was up 6.6 per cent YtD, coming in at 20.976Mt, compared to 19.671Mt a year earlier.
Blended cement shipments amounted to 13.234Mt in 1Q26, up 9.4 per cent YoY from 12.094Mt in 1Q25.
Clinker production, excluding Puerto Rico, saw a 4.1per cent YoY increase to 13.701Mt from 13.158Mt.
Imports of cement and clinker amounted to 5.240Mt in 1Q26, up 2.3 per cent YoY from 5.120Mt. Türkiye accounted for 35 per cent of imports, followed by Vietnam with 21 per cent, Canada 12 per cent, Egypt eight per cent, Mexico four per cent and lesser amounts from a number of countries including Algeria, Greece, Pakistan and the UAE.
Imported clinker amounted to 265,801t, up from 76,868t in 1Q25. Türkiye accounted for 81 per cent of imports, France seven per cent, Canada six per cent and Vietnam four per cent, with smaller amounts from Croatia and China.
Outlook
The outlook for US cement demand in 2026 has improved on strong first quarter data. While residential construction will continue to struggle amid lingering high interest rates, data centre construction growth is expected to remain strong.
