TOP NEWS
Biden Seeks $621 Billion for Infrastructure
President Biden announced an eight-year infrastructure plan that would spend $621 billion on roads, bridges, public transit, rail, ports, waterways, airports and electric vehicles in service of improving air quality, reducing congestion and limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
AEM Commits to Infrastructure
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers announced its commitment to a set of national policy priorities to revitalize the infrastructure systems that move the American economy.
GOP Makes Infrastructure Proposal
Republican senators unveiled their own infrastructure proposal, presenting a $568 billion plan that is significantly smaller than President Biden’s $2 trillion plan.
MSHA WATCH
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the availability of up to $1 million to fund grants to support education and training to help mine workers identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions. Visit grants.gov to apply for the Brookwood-Sago grants. Applications must be received by May 27. MSHA will award grants on or before Sept. 30.
USGS STATS
An estimated 364 Mt of crushed stone was produced and shipped for consumption in the fourth quarter of 2020, a slight increase compared with that of the same period of 2019. The estimated annual output of crushed stone produced for consumption in 2020 was 1.46 Gt, a slight decrease compared with that of 2019, according to Jason Willett, commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
- Total construction starts fell 2% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $797.3 billion. Nonbuilding construction starts posted a solid gain after rebounding from a weak January, however, residential and nonresidential building starts declined, leading to a pullback in overall activity.
- The U.S. Census Bureau reported that construction spending during February 2021 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,516.9 billion, 0.8% (±0.7%) below the revised January estimate.
- The Portland Cement Association (PCA) Market Intelligence Group’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Ed Sullivan recently presented the association’s annual spring cement consumption forecast, predicting an increase in cement consumption for 2021 and 2022.
ENERGY
- WTI Crude Oil Futures 4/22/2021: $61.43/barrel, down $2.03 from week earlier; up $47.65 from year earlier.
- Natural Gas Futures 4/22/2021: $2.749/MMBtu, up $0.091 from week earlier; up $0.810 from year earlier.
- Retail Diesel 4/19/2021: $3.124/gal., down $0.005 from week earlier; up $0.644 from year earlier.
- Electricity 1/20/2021: Average price to industrial customers 6.35 cents/kilowatt hour; up from 6.34 cents/kilowatt hour a year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration