Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.
Issue link: http://concrete.epubxp.com/i/114208
NEWS SCOPE PCA executives assure allied groups of cement companies' support Hosting a World of Concrete opening day luncheon, Portland Cement Association President and CEO Gregory Scott and 2013 Chairman Cary Cohrs (American Cement LLC) underscored the group's commitment to industry-wide promotion and greater advocacy efforts in the nation's capital. The early-February event marked the introduction of newly appointed PCA leadership to representatives from major national groups in concrete production and construction, and one of the first such industry gatherings following the PCA headquarters shift from north suburban Chicago to Washington, D.C. Scott, who joined PCA in January 2012 as senior vice president of Government Affairs, was named president in September and chief executive officer in January. He expressed confidence in the association's ability to pursue a two-point mission on the hope that three years of "regulatory demands are behind us," acknowledging a final cement plant emissions rule that the Environmental Protection Agency issued in late-2012. The luncheon took place against the backdrop of the Las Vegas Convention Center central hall, where an abundance of new concrete delivery and placement equipment suggested an industry confident of market recovery. (from left) Expanded Clay, Shale and Slate Institute's John Ries; CIM National Steering Committee Executive Director Eugene Martineau; Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute's Jim Toscas; Portland Cement Association CEO Gregory Scott and Chairman Cary Cohrs; American Concrete Institute's James Wright; National Concrete Masonry Association's Bob Thomas; Post-Tensioning Institute's Ted Neff; National Precast Concrete Association's Ty Gable; American Concrete Institute's Ron Burg; and, Cast Stone Institute's Jan Boyer. Entering the new year, Scott noted how PCA activities are driven by: 1) market development, encompassing the CEMENT, CONCRETE OUTPUT PROJECTION UP 2 POINTS Improving underlying economic fundamentals, large pent-up demand balances, and diminished economic uncertainty will support an 8.1 percent increase in 2013 cement consumption and concrete output over last year's levels, according to a revised forecast Portland Cement Association Chief Economist Ed Sullivan issued weeks into the new year. The projection is 2.1 percent higher than a preliminary 2013 figure issued last fall, the positive adjustment reflecting business stability in light of the recent fiscal cliff accord among federal lawmakers; recognition of stronger economic momentum; and, markedly more optimistic assessments regarding residential construction activity. The new forecast also factors tailwind as the industry entered the new year: 2012 U.S. cement shipment totals are on track to reach 78.5 million tons—an 8.9 percent gain over 2011 consumption. The first quarter of 2013 might show a decline against prior year figures, however, owing to favorable 2012 conditions versus a weakening in market fundamentals. Accelerated cement consumption predicted during the second half of 2013 should carry into the following year, where PCA projects an 8.3 percent shipment increase over this year's total. Sullivan has also upwardly revised projections for 2015–2017 cement and concrete demand, where annual growth rates could reach 9.2 percent. Concurrent with the revised PCA forecast, Chicago-based online construction project data and marketing service provider BidClerk reports across-the-board gains in 2012 concrete construction contract dollar volume over 2011 figures in the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). According to the BidClerk Construction Index, the combined 25 MSA show an 18.6 percent year-over-year increase in commercial concrete contracts—19 of the areas logging double-digit, six single-digit increases. Concrete contract activity leaders include MSA spanning Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash., with a 44.5 percent increase in 2012 over the prior year; San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif., 39.6 percent; and, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis., 34.2 percent. 12 | MARCH 2013 association's traditional role of promotion and technical efforts supporting concrete and other cement user interests; and, 2) business continuity, with focus on regulatory and other forces affecting member company operating methods and costs. Much of the market development component will continue out of Skokie, Ill., where about 40 PCA staff will remain in a campus alongside lab facilities housing the association's for-profit CTL Group subsidiary, which saw record billings last year. The headquarters move positions PCA and the industry for more visibility on the big stage of Washington, D.C., added Cohrs, who association board members elected last November to succeed Aris Papadopoulos (Titan America). An Essroc Cement and Florida Rock veteran who joined American Cement upon its 2005 launch, Cohrs noted that the emphasis on sustainability in construction challenges the industry to move beyond promoting the benefits of concrete and think in terms of a "position," concluding, "We need to translate feature and product information into things people can use." Among them, he cited concrete structures' life-cycle cost and assessment attributes proved in ongoing research at the PCA- and RMC Research and Education Foundation-sponsored Concrete Sustainability Hub at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM