Pit & Quarry, June 2017

UPDATE CEMEX USA CELEBRATES EARTH DAY 2017 C Cemex USA held Earth Day festivities at a number of its operations Activities included tree planting and more AGGREGATE FORECAST By David Chereb C onstruction conditions continue to improve Nonresidential contracts have jumped in the past six months making aggregate consumption for this segment promising for 2017 Both residential and nonbuilding are also improving The big issue ahead is whether a set of growth policies will be enacted Given the evidence of the last three months it is becoming less certain that policy changes will be big enough to increase GDP growth to more than 3 percent next year The map shows aggregate consumption by county It is too small to see every detail but the amazing thing is that so few counties have large consumption volumes Except for highways and energy activity most counties consume very little aggregate for residential and nonresidential purposes If a hyper loop across America or a big wall is built it will show up as a string of dark green counties for a few years Over a 10 year period a map showing the total percent change by county would look dark green in the South and West and light for the rest of the country Regionally the South and West are again outpacing the rest of the country Most of the former high flyers Arizona California Florida Nevada are again leading the way This may not be a good sign as we need more balanced growth across regions to have sustainable aggregate growth emex USA employees throughout a number of company locations celebrated Earth Day 2017 by planting trees building pollinator gardens and hosting community events In addition the companys Florida aggregate group hosted its 10th annual Earth Day celebration at the companys Center Hill Mine According to Cemex USA more than 1000 people were on hand to enjoy educational booths tree plantings mine tours a fossil dig and other activities We pride ourselves on our environmental initiatives and our commitment to sustainable business practices says Ignacio Madridejos president of Cemex USA Im proud of our team members across the U S for taking the opportunity this Earth Day to continue building a better future for their communities and our planet Cemex is a global building materials company that provides services and products to its customers in more than 50 countries throughout the world Its U S network includes 11 cement plants 43 distribution terminals 57 aggregate quarries and more than 270 ready mix concrete plants Dr David Chereb has many years of experience forecasting construction materials and his webbased forecasting models have captured every major turning point in materials demand for more than 15 years Chereb received his Ph D in economics from the University of Southern California He can be reached at david chereb@ sc marketanalytics com South West continue to be strong Aggregate Consumption by county for 2016 in million tons 30 PIT QUARRY June 2017 pitandquarry com PHOTO COURTESY OF CEMEX Lowest 111 Low 111 221 Medium 221 332 High 332