One of the key storylines in the aggregates industry over the past 12 months is the price of aggregates. Like almost every other construction material out there, the price of aggregates has gone up in keeping with the same inflationary pressures felt by other industries. This is very apparent in the recently released first-quarter reports of the industry’s publicly traded…
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Paying for the Sins of the Past
Let’s be real clear on something: 29 fatalities last year in the mining industry is 29 too many. Even one occupational injury is one too many. Christopher J. Williamson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA), recently penned a letter to the mining community pointing out those 29 fatalities; remarking on an unusually deadly start to 2023;…
Read MoreAlternative Energy Awakening
I just returned from Las Vegas, and my 10th ConExpo-Con/Agg show. More than 139,000 people attended the show, the most since more than 144,600 attended the 2008 show. With a gleaming new West Hall and a vast, fully stuffed Festival Lot, I can say without hesitation it was the busiest and most spread out show I have ever attended. If…
Read MoreMake That 10
I will achieve a certain vaunted double-digit milestone this year: attendance at 10 ConExpo-Con/Agg shows. To be fair, my first show was before the merger, it was just Con/Agg at that time, separate from ConExpo. The show was held in the Houston Astrodome in 1988. But I say it counts. The first combined ConExpo-Con/Agg was held in Las Vegas in…
Read MoreTargeting Carbon
Market forces rooted in the Buy Clean, Carbon Neutrality, LEED v4 and Net Zero movements have spawned an important new web portal, Construction Materials Carbon Management or (CM)2, at www.cmcarbonmanagement.com. The site was recently launched by SEMCO Publishing, parent company of Rock Products; and will be co-edited by me and Don Marsh, editor of Concrete Products. The portal follows cement,…
Read MoreHappy New Year: See What We Have in Store
It’s the start of a new year, and I guarantee this is going to be a good one. Last month I recapped our 2022 developments, including Rock Products’ partnership with Burgex Inc. – the Utah-based consulting and data-analysis company – that resulted in an entirely reimagined version of Rock Products’ Aggregates Atlas; the launch of Cement Products magazine and the…
Read MoreA Banner Year
It was certainly a banner year for Rock Products. Looking back, 2022 was highlighted by advertising growth, new partnerships and strategic expansion of media offerings. At this year’s AGG1 show, we announced a partnership with Burgex Inc., the Utah-based consulting and data-analysis company. This partnership resulted in an entirely reimagined version of Rock Products’ Aggregates Atlas, which along with Burgex’s…
Read MoreAnnouncing ‘Women in Aggregates’
A woman’s place is in the aggregates industry. We are pleased to announce that SEMCO Publishing – parent company of Rock Products, Cement Products, Concrete Products, The ASIA Miner and North American Mining magazines – has launched Women in Aggregates, womeninaggregates.com, a new group dedicated to supporting women working in the aggregates industry. The initiative follows the efforts of similar…
Read MoreCat’s Sharon Holling Retires
One of the construction and aggregates industry trade press’s most ardent supporters has moved on, after Sharon Holling of the Caterpillar Trade Press Relations team announced her retirement. She served more than 45 years with the company. Her help and dedication has been beneficial to me personally as a long-time aggregates industry editor, and I can state the obvious: she…
Read MoreWelcome to The Aggregates Almanac
Welcome to the 2022 edition of the “Aggregates Almanac: The Ultimate Information Resource for Quarry Operators.” Published now for the sixth year in a row, feedback from our readers indicates that this publication is widely used and valued; and retained as a go-to information source. Rock Products’ Benchmark 2022 survey indicated that aggregates operators are highly interested in: Equipment upgrades.…
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