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Concrete Prices - Concrete Financial Insights Index
Ready mixed concrete price evolution
The weighted average of the full year selling prices reported by the five companies in the Concrete Financial Insights Index grew from $107.78 in 2015 to $159.63 in 2023 for a cumulative average growth rate of 5.0% over this period.
What is the average price per cubic yard for ready mix concrete in the United States? That’s not as simple a question to answer, based on publicly available information, as it might seem. There is no government statistical reporting of ready-mix concrete prices equivalent to the US Geological Survey reports on cement, crushed stone, and sand & gravel pricing. Additionally, many of the publicly traded participants within the US ready mixed concrete industry do not separately report concrete segment volumes and revenues. Four industry participants who lead the industry in financial reporting transparency by reporting US concrete volumes and pricing are Eagle Materials, Knife River, Martin Marietta, Summit Materials, and Vulcan Materials.
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association estimates that the US concrete industry shipped 393 million cubic yards of ready mixed concrete during 2023 and the five companies included in the Concrete Financial Insights Index of weighted average ready mixed concrete pricing represent only 6% of that volume. It’s likely that this group’s weighted average pricing is somewhat higher than that of the overall US industry because these five firms have the technical capabilities and plant locations to service large commercial and infrastructure projects requiring higher strength mixes with more costly blends of raw materials.
Insights
Concrete selling price increases had not been keeping pace with the inflation in cost inputs such as diesel fuel, cement, aggregates, and labor in recent years. The 13% increase in average selling price realized in 2023 should be viewed as making up lost ground for an industry in which nearly 28% of the 2022 volume was sold at a loss.
Not all integrated construction materials producers provide segment reporting detail for their concrete operations. We believe that transparent segment reporting of the concrete operations by all integrated participants within the U.S. construction materials industry would be extremely beneficial for investors and other stakeholders. Publishing this information would allow analysts and investors to compare and contrast the operating results of the publicly traded firms within the ready mixed concrete segment of construction materials more accurately.
Ready Mixed Concrete Volume & Price Trends
Industry volume trends
Concrete production and delivery is a $64 billion revenue industry in the United States based on the average 2023 selling price from the Concrete Financial Insights Index.
The industry's slow steady recovery from the downturn which occurred after the 2008 general economic crisis ended in 2023 as volumes fell for the first time since 2009. The lower volumes reflected the impact of higher interest rates impacting residential construction during 2023.
Between 2003 and 2023, ready mixed concrete shipments fell at a cumulative average growth rate of 0.1% per year but there were lots of ups and downs along the way .
Concrete volumes of 400 million cubic yards in 2023 were 0.4% lower than the volumes delivered in the prior year.
The weighted average of the full year selling prices reported by the companies within the Concrete Financial Insights Index grew from $107.78 in 2015 to $159.63 in 2023 for a cumulative average growth rate of 5.0% over this period as illustrated in the chart below.
Insights
Shortages of cement, an essential raw material for concrete, and lower residential construction activity limited concrete production volumes in some sections of the U.S. in 2023.
The estimated full year volumes for 2023 remained well below the previous peak for ready mix concrete volumes in 2005. Shipments of 400 million cubic yards of ready mixed concrete in 2023 were 58 million cubic yards, or 13%, below that peak year.
Concrete selling price increases began to catch up with the inflation in cost inputs such as diesel fuel, cement, aggregates, and labor in 2022 and 2023 after failing to keep pace in 2021