TOP NEWS
Summit Materials Completes Transaction
The combined business will operate as Continental Cement Co. LLC., an existing wholly-owned subsidiary of Summit.
Terex Finlay Holds Dealer Meeting, Product Demo
Terex Finlay introduced two new machines to the North American market: the J-960 jaw crusher and the 873 heavy duty screener.
Polaris Opens California Aggregates Terminal
A self-discharging Panamax ship made the first delivery into the company’s new terminal in the Port of Long Beach, Calif.
MSHA WATCH
In the first six months of 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recorded the deaths of 18 miners in mining industry accidents in its national mid-year summary. The toll represents a decrease of five metal and nonmetal deaths from the same period in 2014. “Mining fatalities are preventable, and each of these deaths reminds us that much more needs to be done to protect the nation’s miners,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “Safe mine operation must be at the forefront at all times to avoid the pain and suffering the families of these miners now have to endure.”
USGS STATS
Aggregates production in the first quarter of 2015 increased for both crushed stone and sand and gravel, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Crushed Stone Commodity Specialist Jason Willett. An estimated 230 Mt of crushed stone was produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 7 percent compared with that of the same period of 2014.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- New construction starts in June dropped 15 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $620.2 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.
- Sales of newly built, single-family homes dropped 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 units in June, according to newly released data from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau.
- A surge in U.S. construction has led to strong demand for construction materials through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway since the start of the season in April. St. Lawrence Seaway officials say the transport of dry bulk cargo is at nearly 3 million metric tons, up 7.5 percent through the first part of the season, April 2 through June 30. Leading the way are 102,000 metric tons of stone, a 24 percent increase. Cement products saw a healthy upswing to 563,000 metric tons, a 9.5 percent increase.
ENERGY
WTI crude oil futures price: 7/24/2015: $48.14/bbl, down $2.75 from week earlier; down $53.93 from year earlier.
Natural gas futures price: 7/24/2015: $2.776/mmBtu, down $0.094 from week earlier; down $1.071 from year earlier.
NATURAL GAS inventories: 7/17/2015: 2,828 Bcf, up 61 Bcf from week earlier; up 622 Bcf from year earlier.
Crude oil inventories: 7/17/2015: 463.9 mmbbl, up 2.5 mmbbl from week earlier; up 92.8 mmbbl from year earlier.
Weekly coal production: 7/18/2015: 17.201 million tons, up 0.801 million tons from week earlier; down 2.237 million tons from year earlier.