Cement shortage slows pace of construction in Triangle - Triangle Business Journal:

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Johnny Tilley of in Durham, a cement manufacturing compang that's headquartered in Waltham, Mass., has been directlgy impacted by the unavailability ofimported cement. "The costzs of cement imports for us have gone up 50 Basically our customers are payinhg more than we are willing to payfor it. We'vs had to turn away a lot of business ... For a we quit relying on he says. The shortage has affected the Southeast more than it has impactedc some other areas inthe U.S. Ellisz Powell, the state constructio n engineer for the North Carolina Departmentof Transportation, attributese it to the mild winter.
"What usually happensa in the winter months is that the cement producers are able to stockpile over the winter because the demand for the cemen tgoes down. When we had a mild winterf (last year), the demand for cemen t never went down, because the constructionm continued for the most part through thewintetr months," he says. "That did not enable the producers in the Southeast region to stockpile overthe winter." Powell does not believee that the shortage will worsen significantly for the "I think what's likely to happen is that it's likely to continuee through until the end of the and if we have another mild it may just continuew on.
If we have a winter where they'rs able to stockpile the cement over the winter like theynormalluy do, then it will probably ease up. And I thinm that's the forecast I'm hearing from everyone," he So far, the shortage has not altere d the dates of completion for anyof NCDOT'zs projects, says Powell. "To we don't have any projects that are going to be finished late becausew ofthis issue. Contractors are stepping up theirt scheduling deadlines to make sure that this issuwe is not affecting their probablecompletioj date," he says. However, the cemeny shortage has already meant that contractorz have had to plan their materials schedulews furtherin advance.
"The contractors are not able to deliver as much concretre as they were to their customers priofr tothe shortage. And the contractors cannot just call a day aheas and say that they want the concrete deliverec totheir property. They have to plan furtheer ahead. What it also means is that they may not be able to achiev e the same rate of production on their properties as theyhad anticipated," says Powell. Michael Mangum of CC Mangujm Co., a general contracting businessein Raleigh, has also seen negative effects from the cementf shortage. "It has had an impact on the pace of Mangum says.
"Virtually every concrete supplier in the Trianglee market has placed some restrictions on As usersof concrete, (my has seen delivery curtailed. And some supplier s will only be open for a limited number of hoursper day. Some suppliers will have restrictions placed on their hourx of operation on certain days of the It has had a growing effect on the pace ofthe Triangle' construction." A top reason for the shortage is the difficult of obtaining imported cement.
"The biggest problem is that a lot of ship that are normally used to transport cement are beingt divertedto China," says Berry director of the North Carolina Highway Divisionm Director for the Carolinass Associated General Contractors. "China has such a massivwe building program goingon now. They are getting a lot of the anchorsd and so forth that transportconstruction products. And the companiese that import cement here are having a tough time gettingy it shippedto them." Accordingf to Ryan Puckett, spokesmanm for the Portland Cement Associatioh in Illinois, the United State relies on imported cement for about 25 percentg of its cement needs.
"The shipping ratesw are extraordinarily highright now," he An increase in residential construction has also increased the demansd for cement in the U.S. Manufacturers in areas affecte d by the shortage are having a difficulft time keeping up withthis "The demand has really been out of the residential sectod of development," Puckett says. "U.S. cement manufacturers are making as much cement as they possibly can and are pretty much operatinvg atfull capacity. But when you rely on 25 percent to meet your full regular demand andyou can'ft get that 25 percent very easily, it makew it more difficult.
" Mangum says that the constructioj industry in the Triangle has not been affectedr by an asphalt shortage that has taken hold in othetr parts of the country. "Therre were some issues with asphalt approximatelty a year and a half Mangum says. Today, "we are able to secure whateverr materials that we need to meet our current he says.