Volume & Price Trends - US Aggregate Industry
Industry trends
The US aggregates industry continues a long slow recovery from the downturn which began after the general economic crisis in 2008.
Between 2010 and 2019, consumption of crushed stone and sand & gravel shipments grew at cumulative average growth rates of 3.2% and 2.2% respectively per year from a combined 2.2 billion tons to 2.8 billion tons. Volumes have been updated based on the annual commodity surveys published by the US Geological Survey in January 2020 which includes minor revisions to data reported for prior years.
The nationwide average selling price for crushed stone grew from a $8.68 mill net / ton in 2010 to $11.12 in 2019. This $2.44 / ton increase over the period represented a cumulative annual growth rate of 2.8%. Sand & Gravel pricing increased at near the same rate from $6.62 / ton in 2010 to $8.43/ ton in 2019, a CAGR of 2.7%.
Insights
The full year volumes in 2019 remained well below the previous peak for annual shipments of 2006. Annual consumption of construction aggregates (combined crushed stone and sand & gravel) of 2.8 billion tons in 2019 was 0.6 billion tons, or 18%, below that prior peak year.
The use of recycled materials, while still a minor proportion of overall consumption, is growing at a faster rate than the overall market.