The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released its updated “Top 100 Producers of Construction Sand and Gravel in the United States” list. According to USGS Commodity Specialist Jason Christopher Willett, the top 10 leading U.S. construction sand and gravel producing companies in 2021 were, in descending order of tonnage:
CRH Americas Materials Inc.; Vulcan Materials Co.; Martin Marietta Materials Inc.; Lehigh Hanson Inc. (now Heidelberg Materials); MDU Resources Group Inc. (now Knife River Corp.); Holcim US; CEMEX USA; Teichert Inc.; Summit Materials LLC.; and Granite Construction Inc.
The new list of high-performance construction sand and gravel producers dovetails with the release of USGS’s first-quarter aggregates production report. According to the report, the estimated U.S. output of construction sand and gravel produced and shipped for consumption in the first quarter of 2023 was 160 Mt, a decrease of 8.8% compared with that of the same period of 2022.
The estimated production-for-consumption of construction sand and gravel in the first quarter of 2023 decreased from that of first quarter 2022 in four of the nine geographic divisions. Production-for-consumption decreased in 23 of the 44 states for which estimates were made.
The five leading states were, in descending order of production-for-consumption, Texas, California, Arizona, Florida and Colorado. Their combined total production-for-consumption was 58.5 Mt, a decrease of 16.2% when compared with that of the same period of 2022.
The decreases in the report are consistent with the quarterly reports from the industry’s publicly traded companies, almost all of which noted weather-related issues in the first quarter of the year.
But not to worry. This issue of Rock Products features our latest Pulse Report, tracking the health of the aggregates industry (see page 22). As lead report author Pierre Villere notes, “To summarize the longer view, I remain convinced in what I have said before: when interest rates stabilize and inflation is tamed, possibly as early as sometime next year, get ready for another broad economic expansion, and the boom times it will bring.”
Mark S. Kuhar, editor
[email protected]
(330) 722‐4081
Twitter: @editormarkkuhar