PCA forecasts cement consumption growth

U.S. cement consumption will continue its growth trend in 2015, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA), Skokie, Illinois.

During the 2015 PCA Spring Meeting in Chicago in early April, PCA Chief Economist and Group Vice President Edward Sullivan projected that total cement consumption would increase by 7.5 percent from last year, and continue to grow in 2016 by 7.9 percent.

“The forecast indicates that the healing in the U.S. economy has taken place,” said Sullivan. “Industry projections continue to be in line with generally improving economic construction fundamentals.”

Sustained strength in job creation, coupled with a gradual shift in the mix of jobs toward higher skills and more significant wage pressures suggest added strength to consumer spending. Consumer balance sheets have endured a healing period, and with improvement in the labor markets will be more able to spend than they have been in quite some time, Sullivan said.

Sullivan forecasts that cement and clinker (lumps or nodules produced by sintering limestone and alumino-silicate materials) imports would increase to 36.6 percent in 2017, up 24 percentage points from the previous year. The rapid growth is projected to continue at an even higher rate in 2018, he said.