Cement Americas

NOV-DEC 2011

Cement Americas provides comprehensive coverage of the North and South American cement markets from raw material extraction to delivery and tranportation to end user.

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CEMENTSCOPE INDUSTRY CELEBRATES AS CEMENT REGULATORY RELIEF BILL CLEARS THE HOUSE October's bipartisan passage of "Ce- ment Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011" (H.R. 2681) by the U.S. House of Representatives was overwhelm- ingly called a triumph by construction industry leaders. A year-long effort to reform what they believed would be job-killing U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency regulations on the U.S. cement industry came to a head with legislation that seeks to replace harsh new federal rules with commonsense environmental safeguards. Introduced by Rep. John Sullivan CEMENT TOTALS Total shipments of portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico were about 7.9 million mt in August 2011, according to the U.S. Geo- logical Survey. This was 8.0% higher compared with shipments for August 2010. Total shipments for the year through August were approximately 46.7 million mt, slightly higher compared to the same period in 2010. Clinker production totaled 5.7 million mt in August 2011, slightly higher than the output in August 2010. Production for the year through August was 39.9 million mt, slightly lower than that for the same period in 2010. Masonry cement shipments of about 182,000 mt for August 2011 were almost slightly higher compared with shipments in Au- gust 2010—marking the first such increase in this market in 2011. Shipments for the year through August were 1.24 million mt, down 7.0% from those through August 2010. August 2011 imports of ce- of ment and clinker about 748,000 mt were down nearly 5.0% from those in August 2010. Imports for the year so far to- taled 4.23 million mt, down about 6.0% from those through August 2010. AUGUST 2011 2 (R-OK) and Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), along with a bipartisan group of their colleagues, the legislation requires EPA to re-propose three recent envi- ronmental rules directed at the port- land cement industry. Although domestic cement manufacturers are among the most highly regulated en- terprises in the country, they recently faced an avalanche of new regula- tions. The bill addresses the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule for the ce- ment, the commercial and industrial solid waste incinerator rule and asso- ciated definition of "solid waste," and, lastly, the new source perform- ance standards rule. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Joe Manchin (D- WV) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) intro- duced a companion bill in last month. "Passage of this legislation allows the industry to continue its di- alogue with EPA with the goal of crafting rational and feasible emis- sion standards," Brian McCarthy, president and CEO of Portland Ce- ment Association said. "We are not shying away from environmental reg- ulations. We have a long history of investing in continuous improve- ments that preserve U.S. manufac- turing capacity and the economy." A recent study found that one of these regulations alone, NESHAP, will force the closure of approximately 18 of the United States' nearly 100 ce- ment manufacturing plants. The pro- duction volume lost by these closures will require cement to be sourced from other countries, thereby export- ing thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs and importing cement from countries with emissions standards much weaker than those already in place in the U.S. In addition, plant closures would be counterproductive to improving the nation's infrastructure as well as unemployment in the construction in- dustry. "Disruptions to the availability of domestic cement supplies will have adverse impacts on the nation's beleaguered construction sector, which is currently suffering from an unemployment rate of nearly 20 per- cent," McCarthy said. "As the econ- omy hopefully rebounds, a decrease in domestic production will require an increase in imported cement to meet demand. This could increase the costs of revitalizing the nation's waterways, bridges, highways and tunnels. We commend the House for passing legislation designed to save jobs and the economy and look for- ward similar support in the Senate." Earlier this week, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Chairman Karl Watson, president of CEMEX USA, NRMCA Board of Directors member Hardy Johnson, chief gov- ernmental/public affairs officer, Titan America, and NRMCA Board member Brad Slabaugh, vice president and CEMENT AMERICAS • November/December 2011 • www.cementamericas.com

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