Vulcan Reports Aggregate Gains – Young Leaders Meet – Martin Marietta Registers Huge Increases
TOP NEWS
Vulcan Reports Aggregate Gains
Total revenues increased $57 million, or 10 percent, to $631 million.
Young Leaders Meet
The industry’s future leaders gathered in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for the annual National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association Young Leaders Meeting.
Martin Marietta Registers Huge Increases
The company reported consolidated net sales of $631.9 million, an increase of 66 percent.
MSHA WATCH
In a letter to industry stakeholders, Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, warned against safety and health programs that deter the reporting of injuries. “As we all work together to reduce fatalities and lower injury and illness rates in the mining industry, MSHA strongly encourages mine operators to strengthen existing safety and health management programs or adopt new programs,” Main said. “These actions can have a meaningful impact on reducing mining deaths, injuries, and illnesses and thus improve the safety and health of our nation’s miners.”
USGS STATS
Domestic production of construction materials (cement, construction sand and gravel, and crushed stone combined) in the fourth quarter of 2014 decreased by approximately 18 percent compared with that in the third quarter of 2014, according to USGS Crushed Stone Commodity Specialist Jason Willett. Production of gypsum increased by 3 percent compared with that in the third quarter of 2014. Production for these mineral commodities in 2014 was about 8 percent greater than during 2013.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- The value of new construction starts in April increased 10 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $698.7 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The nonresidential building sector came in particularly strong, Meanwhile, residential building slipped in April, and nonbuilding construction lost momentum as the result of a pullback by public works. Highway and bridge construction declined a disappointing 31 percent
- Nationwide housing starts rose 20.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.135 million units in April from an upwardly revised March reading, according to newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department. This is the highest level of housing production since November 2007.
- Markets in 68 of the approximately 360 metro areas nationwide returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity in the first quarter of 2015, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI). This represents a year-over-year net gain of seven markets.
ENERGY
- WTI crude oil futures price: 5/21/2015: $60.72/bbl, up $0.84 from week earlier; down $43.35 from year earlier.
- Natural gas futures price: 5/21/2015: $2.949/mmBtu, down $0.059 from week earlier; down $1.524 from year earlier.
- NATURAL GAS inventories: 5/15/2015: 1,989 Bcf, up 92 Bcf from week earlier; up 738 Bcf from year earlier.
- Crude oil inventories: 5/15/2015: 482.2 mmbbl, down 2.7 mmbbl from week earlier; up 90.9 mmbbl from year earlier.
- Weekly coal production: 5/16/2015: 16.028 million tons, down 0.001 million tons from week earlier; down 2.660 million tons from year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration