TOP NEWS
Fred Weber Inc. Acquires General Drilling
Construction materials producer Fred Weber Inc., based in St. Louis, has acquired General Drilling Inc., based in Noblesville, Ind., which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Chaney Enterprises Acquires TW Block & Concrete Assets
Chaney Enterprises will acquire the locally owned TW Block ready-mix concrete, masonry and aggregate-materials business located in Onley, Va., in the lower Chesapeake and Virginia Eastern Shore region.
HeidelbergCement Acquires Corliss Resources
HeidelbergCement’s North American subsidiary Lehigh Hanson has finalized the acquisition of Corliss Resources Inc., one of the largest, family-owned aggregates and ready-mixed concrete companies in the Pacific Northwest.
MSHA WATCH
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported that on Dec. 6, 2021, a miner at Palm Beach Aggregates LLC, Palm Beach, Fla., was fatally injured while he was working in a pan feeder under a chute. While attempting to remove angle iron that blocked the chute’s gate from closing, he was engulfed by material that fell from a surge pile above the chute. The victim died from his injuries on Dec.10, 2021.
USGS STATS
An estimated 436 Mt of crushed stone 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. The estimated production for consumption in the first nine months of 2021 was 1.14 Gt, an increase of 3% compared with that in the same period of 2020, according to Jason Willett, U.S. Geological Survey aggregates commodity specialist.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Total construction starts were flat in December with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $879.3 billion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Residential construction starts gained 4% in December 2021, while nonresidential building starts improved by 3%.
The Dodge Momentum Index fell 3% in December to 166.4 (2000=100), down from the revised November reading of 170.7. 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.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that construction spending during November 2021 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,625.9 billion, 0.4% (±1.0%) above the revised October estimate of $1,618.8 billion.
ENERGY
- WTI CRUDE OIL FUTURES 1/20/2022: $86.90/barrel, up $4.78 from week earlier; up $33.66 from year earlier.
- NATURAL GAS FUTURES 1/20/2022: $3.802/MMBtu, down $0.468 from week earlier; up $1.263 from year earlier.
- RETAIL DIESEL 1/17/2021: $3.725/gal., up $0.068 from week earlier; up $1.029 from a year earlier.
- ELECTRICITY 10/20/2021: Average price to industrial customers 7.53 cents/kilowatt hour; up from 6.72 cents/kilowatt hour a year earlier.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration