PCA State Forecasts
Market Intelligence released the Spring 2024 Regional Forecasts. The outlooks include demographics, key construction indicators as well put-in-place (PIP) construction spending and cement consumption. The forecasts include projections of 16 PIP categories and 18 for cement. An alternate forecast scenario was also released for Texas based on the Texas Comptroller figures.
Regional Housing Deficit Analysis
PCA has released a special report analyzing the housing deficit currently facing the country. Strong demand for housing in recent years, coupled with an influx of first time Millennial-aged home buyers has put the spotlight on below trend home building since the Great Recession. The result is a deficit of housing across the country. PCA’s analysis examines the extent of this issue state-by-state and creates a ‘Housing Imbalance Ranking’ to compare the issue across regions. The report details some of the barriers to increasing stock and summarizes the implications of the deficit for future residential construction activity.
Survey of Portland Cement Consumption by User Group Q4 2023
PCA Market Intelligence released the “Survey of Portland Cement Consumption by User Group” for the 4th quarter of 2023. This quarterly survey reports on the quantity of cement consumed by 18 different user segments. An analysis and data summary are provided for each segment containing quarterly information regarding quantity, regional distributions, and forecast projections.
The 4th quarter of 2023 saw a decrease of 1.9% from the 4th quarter of 2022. The Streets & Highways Contractors and Precast segments saw some of the highest volume growth in the 4th quarter of 2023 compared to last year at 4.8% and 28.5% respectively. The Brick & Block/Manufactured Stone and Packaged Product Producers segments saw sizeable decreases during the quarter of 14.5% and 12.2% respectively.
Expanded USGS data coverage of Type IL cement consumption.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has begun releasing portland-limestone cement (PLC) Type IL at the state level. Collection of this new information began in the January 2024 reporting cycle. The figures are published in the USGS’ monthly Mineral Industry Survey within table 2B [Blended Cement Shipments, By Destination]. PCA Market Intelligence has added the state level PLC consumption data to page four of the monthly Monitor.
Monthly Reports
The April U.S. Monitor was released featuring cement data through January 2024, showing a year-to-date decrease of 14.5% in total consumption. The U.S. Monitor also provides further insight into the construction put-in-place trends with total construction seeing an increase of 5.4% in January 2024 compared to a year prior.
The Competitive Materials report showed growth in lumber prices from last month, with March 2024 seeing a 2.1% increase, while declining 3.5% from the same time last year. Steel prices decreased from the previous month down 7.8%, while dropping 3.6% from year ago levels.