| AggBeat |
November 2007
Vulcan Materials Resumes Operations at Yucatan Quarry
by , Senior Editor
Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials Co. announced that its quarry on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is in full operation following Hurricane Dean. Operations at the plant and adjacent harbor were suspended as part of the company’s hurricane preparedness plan, according to the company. Production and ship loading resumed on Aug. 22.
This pre-hurricane photo shows the Calica Harbor
of Vulcan Material’s Sac-Tun quarry, located on the eastern side of
Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula near Playa del Carmen and about 40 miles
south of Cancun. This is one of three ships Vulcan has at the operation.
“Hurricane Dean reached landfall south of our facility,” Vulcan’s Chairman and CEO Don James says in a press release. “We had virtually no damage. Shipping and production resumed shortly after weather conditions improved. Our employees in Mexico performed admirably both in securing the facilities in advance of the hurricane and bringing them back into production very promptly.”
FHWA Issues Rule to Build Roads, Bridges Faster
A recently issued rule will allow states to conduct environmental studies concurrently with the designing of bridge and road projects, potentially reducing the total construction time by more than 10 percent, according to a report from the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association.
The joint regulation issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) implements a number of key environmental streamlining provisions, crafted to reduce confusion and speed up delivery of transportation projects, included in SAFETEA-LU, according to the report.
The rule allows design work to begin while the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process is under way, ensuring that the full range of alternatives is still considered, the report notes. Using this process, states will be able to expedite the contract award process and start preliminary design while ensuring the objectivity of the NEPA decision-making process.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Merger and acquisition activity in the construction materials industry remains brisk. Transaction volume in terns of deals and value should reach a record level in 2007. CRH plc has continued its recent acquisition spree with the acquisitions of Conrad Yelvington Distributors, Eugene Sand & Gravel, Cessford Construction, and the McMinn group of companies. Conrad Yelvington is the largest rail distributor of aggregates in the southeast and manages about 10 million tons of materials through its network of 327 rail-served distribution terminals in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Michigan.
Eugene Sand & Gravel and Cessford Construction are two integrated aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, and paving and construction businesses with combined reserves in excess of 160 million tons. McMinn’s Asphalt is a vertically integrated materials business based in Pennsylvania that operates two quarries, five asphalt plants, and four concrete plants. It generates $80 million in total annual revenue. In addition to the bolt-on acquisitions, on Sept. 17, CRH announced that it may acquire certain assets from Cemex, including select Florida and Arizona assets targeted for potential divestiture following the acquisition of Rinker Materials by Cemex. Other transaction terms and detail were not available at Aggregates Manager press time.
On Sept. 10, Lafarge announced the acquisition of certain assets from the H.B. Mellott Estate, Inc. — principally four construction aggregate quarries and three concrete plants in western Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. No transaction terms or conditions were provided.
MDU Resources Group, Inc., through its Knife River Corp. materials unit, announced additional bolt-on acquisitions. On Sept. 5, MDU acquired Quality Concrete & Materials Co., Ltd., a ready-mixed concrete and materials supplier headquartered in Beaumont, Texas. The acquired company operates 10 ready-mixed concrete plants and two material distribution yards throughout Southeast and Central Texas. The operations generate nearly $50 million in annual revenue. The acquisition in Texas followed the announcement earlier in the month of the acquisition of Star Aggregates, Inc. In addition to materials supply, Star Aggregates, Inc. also provides highway construction, earthwork, and asphalt production and paving. No transaction terms or conditions were provided.
On Aug. 13, 2007, Boral announced the acquisitions of Schwarz Readymix and Davis Arbuckle Materials, both located in Oklahoma. The acquired businesses include 18 ready-mixed concrete plants, five sand deposits, and a limestone quarry. In total, the businesses produce approximately 750,000 cubic yards of ready-mixed concrete and 1.6 million tons of sand and aggregates. The total purchase price approximated $80 million, and no other transactions terms and conditions were provided. Following the acquisitions, Boral will be the second-largest concrete producer in Oklahoma City.
— by Bill Watkins, managing director, National City Capital Markets. Watkins is a contributing editor and may be reached at
216-222-7134 or at William.Watkins@NationalCity.com .
Construction Exports Up 22 Percent
The United States has exported $8.2 billion in construction equipment built here for the first half of 2007, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). This is a 22-percent increase compared to the January to June 2006 timeframe.
Currently, the Asia region is the front-runner for the biggest rise in exports so far this year, with a 67-percent increase in export volume for a total of $1.16 billion at the mid-year mark. Exports to China grew 181 percent for the first half of 2007, totaling $319.5 million, giving this country a sixth-place ranking for the top export destinations of U.S. construction machinery, according to AEM.
| Top 10 Export Destinations for U.S.-Made Construction Equipment | |||
| Rank | Dollar Country |
Percent Amount |
Increase |
| 1 | Canada | $2.6 billion | 3 percent |
| 2 | Australia | $696 million | 9 percent |
| 3 | Mexico | $588 million | 26 percent |
| 4 | Chile | $346 million | 40 percent |
| 5 | Belgium | $331 million | 78 percent |
| 6 | China | $319.5 million | 181 percent |
| 7 | South Africa | $251 million | 63 percent |
| 8 | Venezuela | $177 million | 72 percent |
| 9 | Germany | $176 million | 70 percent |
| 10 | Russia | $165 million | 57 percent |
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Source: Association of Equipment Manufacturers |
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Lafarge Buys H.B. Mellott Heritage Division
Lafarge has announced that one of its subsidiaries has completed the purchase of the Heritage Division of H.B. Mellott Estate, Inc. The business will be consolidated into Lafarge’s North American Aggregates, Concrete & Asphalt operations.
The H.B. Mellott Heritage Division consists of four construction aggregate quarries and three concrete plants in Western Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania.
“The H.B. Mellott Heritage Division has a rich history of customer service and active involvement in our industry. We look forward to continuing that history, building upon the high quality of products and services customers expect and welcoming our new employees,” says Ken MacLean, president of the company’s eastern U.S. aggregate, concrete and asphalt operations, in a press release.
Producers Recognized for Environmental Safety, Excellence
Nine individual aggregates producing operations from the United States and Canada have received the Environmental Excellence Gold Award from the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) in recognition of their superior performance as environmental stewards during the past year.
The following operations received Gold Awards: Lafarge’s Douglasville Quarry, Douglasville, Ga., Lafarge’s Presque Isle Quarry, Presque Isle, Mich., and the Placitas Aggregates Facility, Bernalillo, N.M.; Granite Construction Inc.’s Capay Plant, Esparto, Calif.; Staker & Parson Co.’s Beck Street Quarry, Salt Lake City, Utah, Brigham North Operation, Brigham City, Utah, and South Weber Operation, Ogden, Utah; and CBM Aggregates’ Aberfoyle Main Pit, Guelph, Ontario, and Sunderland Pit, Sunderland, Ontario.
NSSGA also announced its annual Sterling Safety Awards, which recognizes top company performers. The organization named Mississippi Lime Co., based in Alton, Ill., as a winner in the large company category and Chantilly Crushed Stone Inc., based in Chantilly, Va., and Renner Quarries Ltd., based in Dixon, Ill., as winners in the medium and small categories, respectively.
Among outstanding individual sites, the first place winner in the Safety Excellence Awards’ large size category was Goose Creek Plant, Luck Stone Corp. in Leesburg, Va.; medium category, Mattaponi Plant, Luck Stone Corp. in Aylett, Va.; and small category, Upton Plant, Hanson Building Materials America Inc. in Upton, Ky.
MSHA Details New Process for Collecting Penalties
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is implementing several new changes to improve its civil penalty payment process, the agency announced on Sept. 18. Some of the changes are as follows:
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New Mailing Address: Beginning Oct. 1, all payments for civil penalties must be mailed to a new address: U.S. Department of Labor/MSHA, P.O. Box 790390, St. Louis, MO 63179-0390.
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Electronic Funds Transfer: Payments that are made by check will be converted into electronic funds transfers (EFTs) and electronically debited to a company’s account for the amount of the check. The debit usually will occur within 24 hours and will be shown on the company’s regular account statements.
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Assessment Statement Delivery: MSHA will deliver monthly assessment billing statements via Federal Express. Federal Express delivery requires a street address. P.O. boxes and drawers may not be used.
MSHA asks that each company ensure its address of record reported on the Legal Identity Report is correct.
Addresses of record on file with MSHA can be reviewed on the agency’s Web site at www.msha.gov/drs/drshome.htm . If another address is desired, the Legal Identity Report can be updated by filing a paper copy that can be obtained from the mine’s servicing district office or online by accessing www.msha.gov under the Forms/Online section of Quick Links.
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Independent contractors: These contractors must ensure that their records with MSHA are up to date and contain street addresses. Contractors should provide MSHA with the following information: Contractor ID, contractor name, street address, city, state, zip code, and phone number. Information can be sent by mail to: Assessment Center, 7 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd., Stegmaier Building, Suite 432, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702; by fax to 570-826-6778, Attn. Robin Salmon; or via e-mail to salmon.robin@dol.gov .
Notices about the new mailing address, EFTs, and assessment statement delivery are being included in current assessment invoices or mailed separately to operators and contractors. For additional information on MSHA’s new debt collection improvements, please visit www.msha.gov .
MSHA Wants to Change Mine Rescue Regs
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued two proposals on Sept. 6 that would revise 30 CFR Parts 49 and 75. Changes to mine rescue equipment regulations will require rescue teams serving underground stone operations to the following:
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Increase the number of extra, fully charged oxygen bottles for every six self-contained breathing apparatus (SCSRs) from one to two;
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Increase SCSR capacity from two to four hours;
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Increase the portable air supply for oxygen generation from six to eight hours; and
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Increase the number of gas detectors appropriate for each type of gas that may be encountered at the mines served from two to four.
Holcim Recognized for Efforts
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index on Sept. 11 recognized Holcim as a “Leader in the Industry.” This is the third consecutive year that Holcim has been acknowledged as one of the companies with the best sustainability performance in the building materials industry. Holcim has been included in both the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index for five years.
