Ken Simonson
Ken Simonson
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Last year, 32 states and the District of Columbia were short of cement. Many will have worse shortages this year,
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Whether the recovery from Katrina adds to demand for construction materials depends on the types and speed of rebuilding in damaged areas.
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I think we're in for a prolonged period in which construction materials costs are going to rise more rapidly than consumer costs.
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Today's report on construction spending shows the industry is hitting on all cylinders with strong, balanced growth.
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It showed a little more success than I had expected.
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On a two-month basis, there were several segments that showed exceptional growth. Shopping center construction leaped 61%, after swelling nearly 40% in 2005 and 25% in 2004. Hospital construction grew 22%, while manufacturing and commercial warehouse construction climbed 20%. The previously lackluster office segment was up 18%.
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Construction spending in November outpaced even the upwardly revised October and September totals.
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It's an eerie challenge. You don't want to leave the roof uncovered in a place like that.
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You have a lot of home construction that will be affected by that. How much remains to be seen.
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Consumers who are doing repairs or additions to their home will notice the effect when they buy a bag of cement.
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Contractors use a lot of diesel fuel to power bulldozers, trucks, and other heavy equipment. And many building materials industries, such as copper and steel, are energy intensive.
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Fast-rising materials and fuel costs have exaggerated the growth in some of these categories, especially highway construction.
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There's plenty of cement worldwide, but in the U.S., cement production capacity has leveled off and no one is building more plants.
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As was the case for most of the year, growth was well distributed among the major construction segments. Comparing December 2005 to December 2004, public construction grew 10%, private residential construction rose 9.0%, and private nonresidential was up 6.0%. For the year, those categories increased 8.0%, 11%, and 5.0%, respectively.