The cement industry in the United States produced of

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

in 2015, worth US$9.8 billion, and was used to manufacture concrete worth about US$50 billion. The US was the world's third-largest producer of cement, after China and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The US

cement industry A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

includes 99

cement mill A cement mill (or finish mill in North American usage) is the equipment used to grind the hard, nodular clinker from the cement kiln into the fine grey powder that is cement. Most cement is currently ground in ball mills and also vertical rolle ...

s in 34 states, plus two plants in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. The industry directly employed 10,000 workers in 2015. Ten percent of the cement used in the United States in 2015 was imported.US Geological Survey
Cement
Mineral Commodity Summary, 2016.

Uses

The types and amounts of cement produced in 2015 were: *

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th ...

80.4 million tons * Masonry cement 2.4 million tons * Other

hydraulic cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixe ...

0.6 million tons Cement production is predominantly

portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th ...

, which is mostly used in concrete. Cement for concrete is an essential material for construction, and demand is a function of construction spending. Single-family residential construction is considered only moderately cement-intensive; multifamily residential somewhat more intensive. Nonresidential construction and government construction projects are considered the most cement-intensive. In 2013, 70.8 percent of portland cement was sold as

ready-mix concrete Ready-mix concrete (RMC) is concrete that is manufactured in a batch plant, according to each specific job requirement, then delivered to the job site "ready to use". There are two types with the first being the barrel truck or in–trans ...

, such as is delivered in cement-mixer trucks. 11.5 percent was sold dry to contractors and construction materials stores; 11.3 percent was sold to manufacturers of concrete products; 4.6 percent was sold for oil and gas wells, and 1.8 percent was sold to government agencies and others.US Geological Survey
Cement
Minerals Yearbook, 2013.

Geography

Because cement is a bulk commodity, transportation can be a significant part of the cost. To minimize transportation costs, cement plants are ideally located close to the market, with access to efficient transportation such as ship or railroad. Most cement plants are located close to the limestone deposits. Thirty-four states have cement manufacturing plants. In 2013, the five leading cement-producing states, in descending order, were:

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. Together, the five accounted for almost half of US cement production. The list of top five cement-consuming states is similar: Texas, California, Florida,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. In 2015, about 10 percent of US cement consumption came from imports. The largest sources of US cement imports were

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Industry structure

In 2017, the top producers of portland cement in the US were: * 1 -

Holcim Holcim is a Swiss-based global building materials and aggregates flagship division of the Holcim Group. The original company was merged on 10 July 2015 with Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim as the new company and renamed to Holcim Group in 202 ...

(now

LafargeHolcim Holcim is a Swiss-based global building materials and aggregates flagship division of the Holcim Group. The original company was merged on 10 July 2015 with Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim as the new company and renamed to Holcim Group in 202 ...

) * 2 -

CEMEX CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than 50 countries ...

* 3 - Lehigh Hanson Inc. * 4 -

Buzzi Unicem Buzzi Unicem S.p.A. is an Italian company, quoted on the Borsa Italiana, which produces cement, ready-mix concrete, and construction aggregates. Its headquarters are in the town of Casale Monferrato which was once known as the Italian ‘cement c ...

* 5 - Ash Grove Cement Company (to be acquired by

CRH plc CRH may refer to: * Calibre radius head, a traditional British ordnance term for a concept in ballistic projectile design * Celtic Resources Holdings, an Irish mining company * China Railway High-speed, a high-speed railway service operated by Ch ...

in early 2018) * 6 - Argos USA Corp. * 7 - Eagle Minerals Inc. * 8 - CalPortland Co. * 9 - Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. * 10 - GCC of America, Inc. In 2017, the top 5 companies produced 59 percent of US portland cement; the top 10 companies produced 79 percent.

Inputs

Portland cement is a complex mixture, mostly calcium, with admixtures of aluminium, silica, and iron. The choice of source materials depends on local availability. The calcium is usually supplied by limestone, but sometimes shell or coral. Slightly clayey limestones are preferable, because they already contain the necessary aluminium. Cement cannot contain more than 5 percent magnesium, so the limestone must be low in magnesium. Raw materials used in US cement production, 2013 {, class="wikitable sortable sortable" ! style="background:#DDDDFF;" , Input ! style="background:#DDDDFF;" , million metric tons , - , align=center , Limestone, shell, coral , align=right , 91.5 , - , align=center , Cement rock , align=right , 9.4 , - , align=center , Gypsum , align=right , 4.0 , - , align=center , Clay , align=right , 3.3 , - , align=center , Sand , align=right , 3.1 , - , align=center , Fly ash , align=right , 2.7 , - , align=center , Shale , align=right , 2.1 , - , align=center , Imported clinker , align=right , 1.3 , - , align=center , Other ash , align=right , 1.0 , - , align=center , All other materials , align=right , 5.5 , - , align=center , Total , align=right , 123.9 , - ! colspan=3 style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 0.9em; text-align: left; padding: 6px 2px 4px 4px;" , Source: US Geological Survey, Minerals Yearbook, 2013. Energy sources used in the US to manufacture cement in 2013 were: * Coal 6.0 million metric tons * Petroleum coke 1.6 million metric tons * Solid waste 1.1 million metric tons * Used tires 0.4 million metric tons * Oil 15.7 million liters * Liquid waste 0.8 million liters * Natural gas 694 million cubic meters * Electricity 10.5 billion kilowatt-hours

Environmental Effects

The cement industry has both positive and negative effects on the environment.

Source of waste and pollutants

Cement manufacture is a source of the following airborne contaminants: particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Cement production releases carbon dioxide by

sintering Clinker nodules produced by sintering Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by pressure or heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction. Sintering happens as part of a manufacturing ...

limestone or shells. It is also very energy-intensive, with the result that the cement industry is a large emitter of carbon dioxide.

Destruction of waste and pollutants

The high temperatures of

cement kiln Cement kilns are used for the pyroprocessing stage of manufacture of portland and other types of hydraulic cement, in which calcium carbonate reacts with silica-bearing minerals to form a mixture of calcium silicates. Over a billion tonnes of ...

s, the ability of concrete to incorporate different materials, and the stable and nonreactive nature of the concrete end product, all make cement kilns a desirable method for the destruction of hazardous waste. Hazardous wastes efficiently destroyed by cement kilns include chlorinated solvents (

methylene chloride Dichloromethane (DCM or methylene chloride, methylene bichloride) is an organochlorine compound with the formula . This colorless, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like, sweet odour is widely used as a solvent. Although it is not miscible with ...

trichloroethylene The chemical compound trichloroethylene is a halocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. It is a clear, colourless non-flammable liquid with a chloroform-like sweet smell. It should not be confused with the similar 1,1,1-trichloroethane, w ...

trichloromethane Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with formula C H Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to PTFE. It is also a precursor to various ref ...

, trichloroethane, carbon tetrachloride),

Freon Freon ( ) is a registered trademark of the Chemours Company and generic descriptor for a number of halocarbon products. They are stable, nonflammable, low toxicity gases or liquids which have generally been used as refrigerants and as aerosol prope ...

-113,

polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

s (PCBs), dioxin,

waste oil Waste oil is defined as any petroleum-based or synthetic oil that, through contamination, has become unsuitable for its original purpose due to the presence of impurities or loss of original properties. Differentiating between "waste oil" and "use ...

, and used hydrocarbon solvents. Whatever undesirable materials are not destroyed are locked in the finished concrete, a stable material with low permeability. Hydrocarbon waste and used tires contribute to the kiln heat, and reduces fuel use. In addition to destruction of hazardous waste, waste materials from other industries, such as slag and fly ash, are commonly incorporated into cement, eliminating the need to landfill the waste. The ability of cement to incorporate different materials allows contaminated soil to be added to the feed, eliminating the need to take the material to a hazardous waste landfill. The US EPA estimated that in 2014, 13.1 million tons of coal fly ash, which otherwise would have to be landfilled, was beneficially used in cement. In addition, the use of fly ash improves the strength and durability of concreteFly ash concrete for highways
US Dept. of Transportation, accessed 13 July 2016.

Citations

Cement industry