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Volume & Price Trends - US Cement Industry
Industry trends
The US cement industry generates $16 billion of revenue measured at the mill net price. The industry continues a slow but steady recovery from the downturn resulting from the general economic crisis in 2008.
Between 2013 and 2023, shipments grew at a cumulative average growth rate of 2.8% per year from 91.7 million tons in 2013 to 120.4 million tons in 2023.
The chart above has been updated based on the Q4 2023 mineral commodity survey information published by the US Geological Survey in February 2024.
This updated report includes minor revisions to data reported for the the prior years.
Insights
The full year volumes in 2023 remain well below the previous peak for annual shipments of 2005. Annual shipments of 120.4 million tons in 2023 were 18 million tons, or 14%, below that prior peak year.
U.S. production capacity does not support this level of cement consumption so the U.S. imports nearly one quarter of its cement requirements.
Current cement import information is detailed in a separate section below.
US Cement Consumption by State
Ten States account for > 50% of Cement Consumption
Shipments of Portland, Blended, and Masonry cements totaled 120 million U.S. short tons (109 million metric tons) in 2023, down by 2.8% from the prior calendar year. The top ten cement consuming states - Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio, New York, Illinois, and Tennessee, accounted for 54% of U.S. consumption during 2022.
Texas was the leading destination of US cement shipments in 2023 and consumed 16% of the cement sold in the United States.
Insights
Three states states dominated cement consumption in both 2022 and 2021:
- Texas
- California
- Florida
These three states were the destination of one third of U.S. cement shipments in both calendar years.
US Cement Shipment and Import Trends
Imports of cement are an increasing proportion of overall supply due to constrained U.S. production
U.S. cement production capacity has been relatively stagnant over the past decade so imports have played an increasingly important role in satisfying the demand. Additional investments in modernization for efficiency and increased production volume at some locations were largely offset by capacity eliminated elsewhere.
Economic decisions related to the additional investment otherwise required to bring individual older plants up to the stringent emissions limits of the 2010 National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants regulations, or market conditions in specific geographies, led to these offsetting capacity eliminations. Cement production capacity was increased by conversions from Ordinary Portland Cement to Portland Limestone Cement at many cement plants in 2022 and 2023. These conversions can add 5% - 10% to production capacity.
In 2023 net imports accounted for 24% of US cement shipments.
Insights
Imports now supply nearly one quarter of U.S. cement consumption. Imports as a percentage of shipments peaked at 26% of shipments in 2006 and fell to 7% of US shipments by 2012.
The US Geological Survey reported that net imports of cement and clinker increased by 5% in 2023 over the prior year in its annual commodity survey published in January 2024. Net cement and clinker imports of 29 million short tons accounted for 24% of 2023 shipments.
Where does the cement come from?
The countries of origin for the imported cement are detailed in the section below.
Where do U.S. Cement Imports come from?
Turkey and Canada supplied nearly half of the cement imported into the United States during 2023
U.S. cement demand has grown faster than U.S. cement production capacity over the past decade. Consequently, imports have played an increasingly important role in satisfying the demand. Imports now supply about one quarter of U.S. cement consumption.
Net imports increased by 1 million tons from 28 million short (2,000 lbs.) tons in 2022 to 29 million short tons in 2022. Most of the increased volume of cement imports came from Vietnam, Algeria, and the United Arab Emigrates offsetting decreases in imports from Turkey and Mexico. Turkey remained the largest source of cement imports into the United States however the volume of Turkish cement imported into the U.S. decreased from 10.6 million short tons in the prior year to 8.7 million short tons imported during 2023.
Where does it go?
Nearly 20% of the imported cement came in through the Houston / Galveston customs district.
The next highest volumes of cement imports came in through the San Francisco,
Tampa, New Orleans, and New York City custom districts.
Insights
Imports now supply about one quarter of U.S. cement consumption. Imports, as a percentage of total cement shipments, peaked at 26% of the tons of cement sold in 2006 before falling to 7% of US shipments by 2012 after the financial crisis caused a sharp drop in demand. Imports have slowly been building as demand for cement recovered and imports supplied 24% of total U.S. demand in 2023.
The United States imported cement from 34 countries during 2023. Turkey and Canada, supplied 49% of the cement imported into the United States during 2023. The next largest suppliers of cement, by volume, were Vietnam, Greece, and Mexico. These five countries supplied 80% of the cement imported into the United States during 2023.