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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First Look – June 2023
MSHA Impact Inspections Target 20 Mines in 15 States
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) completed impact inspections at 20 mines in 15 states in April 2023 and found 335 violations. Since Jan. 1, 2023, MSHA’s inspections identified 914 violations, including 257 significant and substantial and 18 unwarrantable failure findings. An S&S violation is one reasonably likely to cause a reasonably…
Read MoreUSGS: Aggregates Production Flat in 2022
By Mark S. Kuhar At the start of 2022, it was highly anticipated that aggregates production would rise to about 2.80 billion metric tons (Gt) for the year. Well, final numbers are in and the estimated annual output of construction aggregates produced for consumption in 2022 was 2.44 Gt, unchanged from that of 2021, according to Jason Christopher Willett, commodity…
Read MoreNews from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut
According to the Green Valley News, Vulcan Materials submitted an application for a conditional use permit with the Town of Sahuarita, Ariz., to operate a hot mix asphalt plant at its current sand and gravel mining operation along Old Nogales Highway, just over a half-mile from some of the northernmost homes in Quail Creek. Residents have since raised a number…
Read MoreMSHA Reports 12th Fatality of 2023
MSHA reported that on March 15, a miner at Vulcan Materials’ Fort Pierce Mine, St Lucie County, Fla., drowned when the ground sloughed, causing the excavator he was operating to topple into a water-filled pit. The excavator became submerged in approximately 25 ft. of water. This is the 12th fatality reported in 2023, and the fourth classified as “Machinery.” MSHA recommends…
Read MoreVulcan, CEMEX Reportedly Reach Agreement on Disputed Port Facility in Mexico
CEMEX has reportedly reached a temporary deal to use Vulcan Materials Co.’s port facilities at Punta Venado in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, potentially defusing a legal battle that recently became a flashpoint for U.S.-Mexico relations. The companies are still working on a long-term agreement, according to CEMEX spokesman Jorge Perez. “Vulcan owns the four parcels of property that make up its…
Read MoreVulcan Blasts Occupation of Mexican Port
March 21, 2023 – Vulcan Materials is not taking the illegal occupation of its port near Playa del Carmen in Mexico lightly. The company issued the following statement: “On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, CEMEX, aided by armed Mexican police and military, forcibly entered Vulcan’s port facilities near Playa del Carmen. They are still occupying the property. There is no contract…
Read MoreMexico Seizes Port Owned by Vulcan Materials
Vulcan Materials said that Mexican police and soldiers have illegally entered and seized a cargo port it operates on land it owns on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, according to the AP. The company said police forced their way into the Caribbean coast dock at Punta Venado, near Playa del Carmen, last week. “It should be clear that the rule of law is…
Read MoreAggregates Production: What Went Wrong?
March 6, 2023 – At the start of 2022, it was highly anticipated that aggregates production would rise to about 2.80 billion metric tons (Gt) for the year. Well, final numbers are in and the estimated annual output of construction aggregates produced for consumption in 2022 was 2.44 Gt, unchanged from that of 2021, according to Jason Christopher Willett, commodity…
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