Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/316536
Domestic production data for crushed stone and con- struction sand and gravel are derived by the USGS from vol- untary surveys of U.S. producers. In 2012, more than 12,000 aggregates operations were surveyed and around 80 percent of these were active. Of the active aggregates operations sur- veyed, 5,223 operations, or 51 percent, reported their pro- duction/sales to the USGS, and their total production was 1.36 billion short tons. Less than one-half of the operations that reported their 2012 production tonnages did not report a corresponding dollar value for their production. Production estimates of the non-responding operations were based on employment data provided by MSHA. The estimated production of 4,976 non-responding operations was 825 million short tons, or 38 percent of U.S. construc- tion aggregates production. Unit values are determined by the average annual f.o.b. plant prices, usually at the first point of sale or captive use, as reported by the construction aggregates producing com- panies. This value does not include transportation from the plant or yard to the consumer. It does, however, include all costs of mining, processing, in-plant transportation, over- head costs, and profit. For those operations that reported production only, the unit values of total production or specific end uses were estimated based on other reporting operations within the same state. The USGS produces publications on construction aggre- gates and other mineral commodities, including the Minerals Yearbook, Mineral Industry Surveys, and Mineral Commodity Summaries. The Minerals Yearbook is an annual publication that contains statistical data on crushed stone and construc- tion sand and gravel as separate chapters. The Minerals Year- book series includes chapters on approximately 90 mineral commodities (volume I), 50 states and Puerto Rico and the administered islands (volume II), and 175 countries (volume III). Crushed stone and sand and gravel Mineral Industry Surveys are quarterly, web-based publications designed to provide timely statistical data on domestic production of crushed stone, construction sand and gravel, and aggregates at the national, state, and regional levels. The quarterly survey is a sample survey that generates production-for-con- sumption estimates by quarter, based on information report- ed voluntarily by a limited number of producing companies. The Mineral Commodity Summaries is published on an an- nual basis and is the earliest annual government publication to furnish estimates regarding prior year construction aggre- gates industry data. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014 pro- vides preliminary data on 2013 production. A listing of the top 100 producers is published annually in the Minerals Year- book for the crushed stone industry and for the construction sand and gravel industry. These directories rank the leading companies based on their production-for-consumption for the current and previous year. All publications are available on the USGS Mineral Re- sources Program web site, http://minerals.usgs.gov/, by se- lecting the Quick Link for "Minerals Information." Top crushed stone operators In 2012, a total of 1,517 companies produced or sold crushed stone from 3,619 operations with 3,951 quarries and 203 sales and (or) distribution sites. A total of 1.29 billion short tons of crushed stone was produced for consumption from surface and underground mines, a slight increase from the total production of 2011 and 34 percent less than the record high of 1.96 billion short tons in 2006. The recent levels of crushed stone produced for consumption in the United States are the lowest since 1993. The value of the crushed stone produced was $11.4 billion, a slight increase compared with that of 2011 and 20 percent less than that of 2006. The average unit price for crushed stone increased slightly compared with the average unit price for 2011 and was 21 percent higher compared with that of 2006. The 10 leading crushed stone producing states were, in descending order of tonnage, Texas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, and North Carolina. The combined production of the 10 leading states increased slightly from 2011 to 669 million short tons, more than one-half of the national total. In 2012, underground production, totaling 78 million short tons, accounted for 6 percent of the U.S. production of crushed stone. Crushed stone was produced in 85 under- ground mines in 18 states. The five leading states were, in descending order of underground production, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, and Nebraska. Production from these five states represented 68 percent of the U.S. crushed stone produced from underground mines. The 10 leading companies, in descending order of crushed stone production in 2012, are listed below. These compa- nies, with 961 active operations that produced rock from 840 quarries, accounted for 44 percent of the production of crushed stone in the United States. 1. Vulcan Materials Co. 2. Martin Marietta Aggregates 3. Oldcastle Materials, Inc. 4. Lehigh Hanson, Inc. 5. Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. 6. Lafarge North America Inc. 7. Carmeuse Lime & Stone 8. Rogers Group, Inc. 9. Holcim Group/Aggregate Industries Management, Inc. 10. New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc. TOP PRODUCERS • 10