TOP NEWS
United States Lime & Minerals Reports Strong Quarter
United States Lime & Minerals Inc. reported revenues in the third quarter of 2021 were $52.3 million, compared to $43.7 million in the third quarter 2020, an increase of $8.6 million, or 19.6%.
LafargeHolcim Acquires Marshall Concrete Products
LafargeHolcim in the United States acquired Marshall Concrete Products, a “longstanding and trusted supplier” of concrete products and services in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., and the greater Twin Cities metropolitan area, the company stated.
Knife River Acquires Two Producers
Knife River Corp. acquired Baker Rock Resources and Oregon Mainline Paving, two premier construction materials companies that expand Knife River’s platform in the Pacific Northwest. Knife River is the construction materials subsidiary of MDU Resources Group Inc.
MSHA WATCH
The Mine Safety and Health Administration reported that on Nov. 17, 2021, a customer truck driver at East Coast Mines Ltd., Suffolk, N.Y., was electrocuted after the tarping mechanism on the trailer contacted a high-voltage overhead power line. While exiting the cab of the truck, the victim contacted the energized truck and received a nonfatal electrical shock. When he tried to re-enter the cab of the truck, he was electrocuted.
USGS STATS
An estimated 731 million metric tons (Mt) of total construction aggregates was produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 4% compared with that in the third quarter of 2020, according to Jason Willett, U.S. Geological Survey aggregates commodity specialist.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.3 million tons in November, an increase of 16.8% compared to a year ago. Limestone cargos were 18.4% above the month’s five-year average. Loadings from U.S. quarries increased 19.1% from 2020 to 2.7 million tons. Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 625,608 tons, an increase of 7.6%. Year-to-date the limestone trade stands at nearly 28 million tons, an increase of 9.9% compared to a year ago. Loadings from Michigan and Ohio quarries increased 9.5% to 22.2 million tons, while shipments from Ontario quarries total 5.8 million tons, an increase of 11.2% from 2020.
The Dodge Momentum Index fell 4% in November to 171.7 (2000=100) – down from the revised October reading of 178.1. The Momentum Index, issued by Dodge Construction Network, is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.
Over the first 10 months of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date nationwide reached 948,321. On a year-over-year basis, this is a 17.3% increase over the October 2020 level of 808,301, according to the National Association of Homebuilders.
ENERGY
WTI CRUDE OIL FUTURES 12/17/2021: $70.86/barrel, down $0.81 from week earlier; up $22.50 from a year earlier.
NATURAL GAS FUTURES 2/17/2021: $3.690/MMBtu, down $0.235 from week earlier; up $1.054 from a year earlier.
RETAIL DIESEL 12/21/2021: $3.626/gal., down $0.023 from week earlier; up $1.007 from a year earlier.ELECTRICITY 9/21/2021: Average price to industrial customers 7.71 cents/kilowatt hour; up from 7.00 cents/kilowatt hour a year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration