Production on the Rise

March 10, 2021 – The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has just come out with its fourth quarter 2020 and full-year 2020 production results. An estimated 606 million metric tons (Mt) of total construction aggregates was produced and shipped for consumption in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 3% compared with that of the same period of 2019. That is the good news. The estimated annual output of construction aggregates produced for consumption in 2020 was 2.43 billion metric tons (Gt), a slight decrease compared with that of 2019. That is the bad news but with COVID-19 hanging over 2020, it could have been much worse. And the expected new infrastructure bill ought to be a huge shot in the arm, to use an appropriate and timely turn of a phrase. USGS Crushed Stone Commodity Specialist Jason Willet, in his ever-evolving 1945-2030 Construction Forecast chart, sees aggregates production trending straight upward over the next decade, culminating in a return to the vaunted 3 Gt-per-year threshold in 2030 – a number the industry has not achieved since 2006. That is the best news of all.