According to the just-released 2019 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Reports, production of portland cement in 2018 in the United States increased slightly to about 85.4 million tons, and output of masonry cement continued to be stagnant at 2.4 million tons. Cement was produced at 98 plants in 34 States, and at two plants in Puerto Rico. Overall U.S. cement production continued to be well below the record level of 99 million tons reported in 2005, indicating continued full-time idle status at a few plants, underutilized capacity at many others, production disruptions from plant upgrades, plant closures over the interim, and relatively inexpensive imports in some recent years.
Sales of cement increased by nearly 3 percent in 2018. Overall, shipments were 27.8 million tons lower than the record volume set in 2005. The overall value of shipments was nearly $12.7 billion. Most of the sales of cement were to make concrete, worth at least $66 billion. In recent years, about 70-75 percent of cement sales have been to ready-mixed concrete producers, 8-10 percent to contractors (mainly road paving; much contractor work also involves ready-mixed concrete), about 10 percent to concrete product manufacturers, and 7-10 percent to other customer types.
