FIRST LOOK – AUGUST 2017

TOP NEWS

Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Co. announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017. Total revenues increased $74 million, or 8 percent, to $1.03 billion. Gross profit was $292 million, in line with the prior year. Net earnings were $120 million and Adjusted EBITDA was $288 million.

Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. reported record results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017, including consolidated net sales of $996.3 million, an increase of 8.8 percent compared with $915.4 million in the second quarter of 2016.

Summit Materials

Summit Materials Inc. announced results for the second quarter 2017. For the three months ended July 1, 2017, the company reported basic earnings per share of $0.47 on net income of $50.0 million, compared to basic earnings per share of $0.21 on net income of $13.4 million in the prior year period

MSHA WATCH

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced that – for the third consecutive year – none of the nation’s more than 13,000 mining operations meets the criteria for a Pattern of Violations notice. The screening period started on July 1, 2016, and ended on June 30, 2017. The POV provision in the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 is one of MSHA’s toughest enforcement tools. The agency reserves the provision for mines that pose the greatest risk to the health and safety of miners, particularly those with chronic violation records. In recent years, MSHA developed two online tools to help mine operators monitor compliance – the POV monitoring tool, which alerts mine operators that they meet the screening criteria and should take appropriate corrective actions; and the S&S rate calculator that enables mine operators to monitor their S&S violations.

USGS STATS

An estimated 261 million metric tons (Mt) of crushed stone was produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the first quarter of 2017, a slight decrease compared with that of the same period of 2016. The revised estimated annual output produced for consumption in 2016 was 1.36 billion metric tons (Gt), a slight increase compared with that of 2015. This was previously reported as 1.37 Gt.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

New construction starts in June grew 4 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $679.9 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Nonresidential building increased 13 percent in June, strengthening after two months of lackluster activity, and the nonbuilding construction sector rose 8 percent with the help of elevated activity for electric utilities. However, residential building slipped 4 percent in June, as both sides of the housing market (single-family and multifamily) retreated.

Construction spending during May 2017 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,230.1 billion, nearly the same as (±2.5 percent) the revised April estimate of $1,230.4 billion. The May figure is 4.5 percent (±2.5 percent) above the May 2016 estimate of $1,177.0 billion.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes in June inched up 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units from a downwardly revised May reading, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

ENERGY