TOP NEWS
Teichert Buys Eagle Materials Assets
Eagle Materials Inc. announced that the company has sold its Western Aggregates and Mathews Readymix operations for $93.5 million to Teichert, a California-based construction company.
Lehigh Hanson Initiates Layoffs
Lehigh Cement Co. LLC announced that most of its cement-making work at its Glens Falls, N.Y., plant and Moreau, N.Y., quarry would cease due to slowdown in demand across its servicing region throughout New England.
230,000 U.S. Bridges Need Repair
Nearly 231,000 U.S. bridges need major repair work or should be replaced, according to an American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) analysis of the just released U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2019 National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database.
MSHA WATCH
What actions is MSHA taking in dealing with COVID-19? MSHA is abiding by the President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America, which are based on the “CDC Interim Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Persons with Potential Coronavirus Disease 2019,” which covers, “Workers who support the operation, inspection and maintenance of essential public works facilities and operations, including bridges, water and sewer main breaks, fleet maintenance personnel, construction of critical or strategic infrastructure, traffic signal maintenance, emergency location services for buried utilities, maintenance of digital systems infrastructure supporting public works operations, and other emergent issues.”
USGS STATS
The estimated annual output of construction sand and gravel produced for consumption in 2019 was 960 million metric tons (Mt,) a slight increase compared with that of 2018. The estimated output of construction sand and gravel produced and shipped for consumption in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 230 Mt, a slight decrease compared with that of the same period of 2018, according to Jason Willett, crushed stone commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- Total construction starts declined 5% from February to March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $746.9 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Volatility caused by the presence or absence of large projects in healthcare and the utility/gas plant category, however, skewed the analysis. In March, nonresidential building starts fell 9% from February (seasonally adjusted), while residential building dropped 11%. Nonbuilding construction starts, however, rose 14% during the month.
- Sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 15.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000 units in March, coming off a downward revision in February, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The March rate is 9.5% lower than the March 2019 pace.
- Dodge Data & Analytics conducted a survey of 172 contractors across the U.S. from March 19 to March 31. The results of that study reveal that most contractors are feeling at least some impact from the crisis, with the worst impact expected to be felt within the next three months.
ENERGY
- WTI Crude Oil Futures Price: 4/23/2020: $16.50/barrel; down $3.37 from week earlier; down $49.39 from year earlier.
- Retail Diesel Price: 4/20/2020: $2.480/gal., down $0.027 from week earlier; down $0.667 from year earlier.
- Natural Gas Futures Price: 4/23/2020: $1.815/MMBtu, up $0.129 from week earlier; down $0.647 from year earlier.
- Electricity: 2/20/2020: Average price to industrial customers 6.42 cents/kilowatt hour; down from 6.69 cents/kilowatt hour from year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration