American essayist and novelist Charles Dudley Warner is known for making the famous remark, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Mark Twain liked it so much he stole it and everyone now attributes it to him.
No matter who said it, the remark is spot on. But what can we do about it? We better figure out something, because more and more, adverse weather conditions are being cited as a detriment to aggregates production growth.
In the latest quarterly reports from the publicly traded aggregates producers, there are these comments:
Tom Hill, Vulcan Materials’ chairman and CEO, said, “Significant weather disruptions throughout the first half of the year impacted both construction activity and operating efficiencies, resulting in adjustments to our aggregates volume and cost outlook for the full year.”
Ward Nye, chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta, stated, “Martin Marietta experienced a series of factors in the second quarter impacting product shipments. Historic precipitation in Texas and in parts of the Midwest, together with ongoing restrictive monetary policy, curtailed volumes for the three-month period. . . Equally, in the second quarter we expanded our Adjusted EBITDA margin and increased aggregates gross profit per ton by 9% despite shipments that were notably encumbered by April and May’s historically wet weather.”
Anne Noonan, Summit Materials president and CEO, remarked, “We are pleased and proud to report that our teams safely and successfully managed through weather-related disruptions to deliver a strong quarter of strategic execution and solid financial results.”
So what’s the answer? Short of building a dome over your quarry operation nothing can prevent inclement weather from making a negative impact on production. If unpredictable weather conditions are the new normal, maybe “doing something about it” is a topic that needs to be discussed with more seriousness.
What does that look like? Make weather forecasting a greater priority? Build production time around periods of dry weather, even if it means working a night shift? Move everything underground?
Easier said than done. But the days of simply showing up at the plant and just dealing with whatever Mother Nature throws at you may require a new set of problem-solving skills.
Mark S. Kuhar, editor
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(330) 722‐4081
Twitter: @editormarkkuhar