TOP NEWS
Associations Pledge Cooperation
Association of Equipment Manufacturers President Dennis Slater pledged that equipment manufacturers will actively support the efforts of the new administration to confront our nation’s many challenges. Brian P. McGuire, president and CEO of Associated Equipment Distributors issued similar sentiments.
Clyde Companies Changes
Clyde Companies Inc., the parent company of WW Clyde, Geneva Rock, Sunroc, Sunpro, Scott Contracting, Beehive Insurance, GWC Capital, and Bridgesource, made several organizational changes in senior leadership.
CEMEX Safety Day
CEMEX USA began the new year, renewing its commitment to Zero4Life by holding Safety Week 2021, its annual company-wide initiative designed to get employees laser-focused on the company’s first core value, Health & Safety.
MSHA WATCH
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported there were 29 mining fatalities, making it the sixth consecutive year that mining fatalities were below 30. Among those fatalities, five occurred in coal mines, a historic low.
USGS STATS
An estimated 416 Mt of crushed stone was produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the third quarter of 2020, a decrease of 6% compared with that of the third quarter of 2019. The estimated production for consumption in the first nine months of 2020 was 1.10 billion Gt, a decrease of 3% compared with that of the same period of 2019, according to Jason Willett, commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- Total construction starts lost 5% in December, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $784.3 billion. Nonresidential building starts fell 11% during the month, while nonbuilding starts were 5% lower. Residential starts were essentially flat over the month. Starts were lower in three of the four regions in December; the South Central was the only region to post an increase.
- Led by a solid, double-digit gain in single-family starts, overall housing starts increased 5.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.67 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
- The U.S. Census Bureau announced that construction spending during November 2020 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,459.4 billion, 0.9% (±0.8%) above the revised October estimate of $1,446.9 billion. The November figure is 3.8% (±1.3%) above the November 2019 estimate of $1,405.5 billion.
ENERGY
- WTI Crude Oil Futures 1/22/2021: $52.27/barrel, down $0.09 from week earlier; down $3.32 from year earlier.
- Natural Gas Futures 1/22/2021: $2.446/MMBtu, down $0.291 from week earlier; up $0.520 from year earlier.
- Retail Diesel 1/18/2021: $2.696/gal., up $0.026 from week earlier; down $0.341 from year earlier.
- Electricity 10/20/2020: Average price to industrial customers 6.72 cents/kilowatt hour; down from 6.84 cents/kilowatt hour a year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration