TOP NEWS
NSSGA Announces 2020 Barry K. Wendt Scholarship Winner
The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association has awarded Ryan Sibley, a junior at the Missouri University of Science & Technology, its annual Barry K. Wendt Scholarship.
Green Rock Acquires Couch Aggregates
Couch Aggregates, Birmingham, Ala., has been acquired by Birmingham-based Green Rock LLC. Geographically, Couch said it was a perfect fit with its operations strategically located in central and south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Arcosa Acquires Strata Materials
Arcosa Inc. has acquired Strata Materials for approximately $87 million. Strata is a leading provider of recycled aggregates in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, with five recycled aggregates locations and one natural aggregates plant.
MSHA WATCH
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a safety alert for confined spaces. Between 2017 and 2020, three miners were fatally injured after entering confined spaces to clear material and obstructions. These confined spaces included a sand and gravel bin, a sand-filled hopper and a cone crusher. All three miners were engulfed by falling material.
USGS STATS
An estimated 404 Mt of crushed stone was produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the second quarter of 2020, a slight decrease compared with that of the second quarter of 2019, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Commodity Specialist Jason Willett.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- Total construction starts dipped 18% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $667.7 billion, essentially taking back August’s gain, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.
- Construction spending during August 2020 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,412.8 billion, 1.4% (±1.0%) above the revised July estimate of $1,392.7 billion. The August figure is 2.5% (±1.5%) above the August 2019 estimate of $1,379.0 billion.
- Sales of newly built, single-family homes in September fell 3.5% to 959,000 from a downwardly revised August number, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
ENERGY
WTI Crude Oil Futures 10/23/2020: $39.85/barrel, down $1.03 from week earlier; down $16.38 from year earlier.
Natural Gas Futures 10/23/2020: $2.971/MMBtu, up $0.198 from week earlier; up $0.655 from year earlier.
Retail Diesel 10/21/2020: $ 2.395/gal., down $0.007 from week earlier; down $0.662/gal. from a year earlier.
Electricity 7/20/2020: Average price to industrial customers 7.17 cents/kilowatt hour; down from 7.19 cents/kilowatt hour a year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration