Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/689568
SPECIAL REPORT • 11 by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com SPECIAL REPORT P erhaps it's due to election-year uncertainty or the fact that nearly half expanded their budgets last year, but fewer respondents to the 2016 Aggre- gates Manager Equipment Survey say they will increase their capital expenditure budgets this year. These results were reported amidst the widespread optimism on display in Nashville during AGG1. Just over 29 percent of respondents say they will increase capital expenditure spending, compared to 45.4 percent who reported the same expectations through last year's survey. While the percent- ages are not as high, year-over-year increases in spending seem indicative of strength and stability for many operators. This was confi rmed in many anecdotal responses. For exam- ple, one respondent noted that most of his equipment had been replaced within the last two to three years. Whose numbers are these? A total of 127 producers responded to the survey, which was sent out in March. Of those who responded, nearly a third were owners or offi cers and another third were titled executives, production managers, or plant superintendents. The remainder fell into a variety of categories including quality control and technical managers, maintenance man- agers, and production personnel. By product, the vast majority of respondents have both crushed stone and sand and gravel operations — more than twice as many as those who have only crushed stone sites and nearly four times as many as those who have solely sand and gravel sites. By size, respondents are fairly well distributed: 37.8 per- cent produce less than 500,000 tons per year, 29.1 percent fall into annual tonnage rates of 500,001 to 2.5 million tons, and 33.1 percent produce more than 2.5 million tons per year. What cap ex spending changes? According to survey respondents, slightly less than 4 percent plan to sharply increase their capital expenditures budget during the next 12 months (see Figure 1). More than one in four (25.2 percent) say they will increase budgets somewhat, while nearly six in 10 (56.8 percent) say their E quipment A cquisition Continues While not as pronounced as last year, operators continue to replace equipment, and a growing number are adding rentals and leases to their fi nancing options.