TOP NEWS
Vulcan First-Quarter Revenues Leap 20 Percent
Vulcan Materials Co. announced results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2016. The company said its first-quarter results reflect continued strong revenue growth and margin expansion.
Martin Marietta Soars to Record Results in First Quarter
Martin Marietta Materials Inc. reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016. Ward Nye, chairman, president and CEO of Martin Marietta, stated: “We are especially pleased to report a record first quarter.”
Symposium Features Frank Infrastructure Perspectives
Agency, academic and private-sector officials assessed long-range infrastructure planning against demographic changes, technology developments and funding mechanisms during a Northwestern University Transportation Center-hosted symposium.
USGS STATS
The estimated U.S. output of construction aggregates produced and shipped for consumption in the first quarter of 2016 was 443 million metric tons (Mt), an increase of 16 percent compared with that of the same period of 2015, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). “By comparison, the estimated annual output produced for consumption in 2015 was 2.27 billion metric tons (Gt), an increase of 6 percent compared with the annual output for 2014,” said USGS Crushed Stone Commodity Specialist Jason Willett.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced that construction spending during March 2016 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,137.5 billion, 0.3 percent (±1.0 percent) above the revised February estimate of $1,133.6 billion.
The value of new construction starts in April fell 8 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $608.3 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Nonresidential building pulled back following its sharp March increase, and residential building also declined due to a slower pace for multifamily housing.
Nationwide housing starts rose 6.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million in April, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Overall permit issuance was also up 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.12 million.
MSHA WATCH
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced a global settlement with Worcester Sand and Gravel Co. Inc., of Shrewsbury, Mass., to resolve citations and orders in three separate dockets. An administrative law judge with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission approved the settlements amounting to $181,200, the largest penalty amounts recovered from a mine operator in New England in the past decade.
ENERGY
- WTI crude oil futures price: 5/31/2016: $49.10/barrel, up $0.48 from week earlier; down $11.10 from year earlier.
- Natural gas futures price: 5/31/2016: $2.288/MMBtu, up $0.308 from week earlier; down $0.361 from year earlier.
- Retail gas price: 5/30/2016: $2.339/gal, up $0.039 from week earlier; down $0.441 from year earlier.
- Retail diesel price: 5/30/2016: $2.382/gal, up $0.025 from week earlier; down $0.527 from year earlier.
- Weekly coal production: 5/21/2016: 11.702 million tons, up 0.333 million tons from week earlier; down 4.369 million tons from year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration