Cement Producers in Usa
China produces the most cement globally by a large margin, at an estimated 2.5 billion metric tons in 2021. China's cement production share equates to over half of the world's cement. India was the world's second-largest cement producer, with production amounting to a distant 330 million metric tons.
How many cement plants are producing in the USA?
In the spring of 1866, David O. Saylor, Esias Rehrig, and Adam Woolever started the Coplay Cement Company. The Coplay Cement Company was located along the west side of the Lehigh River and along side of the Lehigh Valley Railroad (L.V.R.R). Early in the 1870’s, Sailor began to experiment with the manufacturing of portland cement from rocks from his own quarry.
With this experimentation, Saylor discovered the possibility of making portland cement from raw materials at his disposal. He noticed that the harder burned portions of his Rosendale clinker produced cement that would show a tensile strength equal to that of the best imported portland cement, for a short period of time. However the cement had the problem of crumbling away with time. This problem was do to the raw materials not being properly proportioned.
Up until this experimentation, the trio of men manufactured natural rock cement. There were many other manufacturers of natural rock cement in the United States at this time. The Rosendale cement of New York had been on the market for over thirty years and manufacturers were already in operation on the Potomac, James, and Ohio River Valleys. Natural rock cements were made by driving off the carbonic acid from argillaceous (clay-bearing) limestones.
This was done at low temperatures in an ordinary upright kiln from 1,000 to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, and produced a soft yellow stone. This yellow stone was then ground into a powder and constituted the finished product. On the other hand, portland cement is an artificial mixture of raw materials, has a calcination at a temperature above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and purer raw materials were used than necessary for natural cements.
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Top 10 cement producers in the USA
1. LafargeHolcim
LafargeHolcim is the largest cement producer in the US. The company has been in operations since 2015 having been formed following the merger of Swiss cement producer company Holcim and the French construction company Lafarge. The two parent companies have more than 100 years of experience in their respective fields.
LafargeHolcim specializes in four main products; cement aggregates, ready-mix concrete, and asphalt and construction materials. The company has 13 cement producing factories across the US with an annual production capacity of 22 million tons. LafargeHolcim, which has its headquarters in Chicago, has worked on projects like the St. Croix Crossing Bridge that connects Minnesota and Wisconsin and One World Trade Center in New York.
2. Cemex
Cemex has its headquarters in Mexico and a leading cement producer in the United States. The company has 11 cement producing plants spread across the country. Cemex was recently awarded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) energy start partner award for 2019. The company, which has a major market in Orlando and Arizona produces products like cement, concrete, aggregate, fly ash, and slag cement. One of Cemex’s most famous projects is the construction of a concrete volcano at the Universal Theme park in Orlando.
3. Lehigh Hanson
Lehigh Hanson was started in 1887 in the US as a cement producing company. It was later acquired by Heidelberg, a German-based leading global producer of cement. In2007, Heidelberg also acquired the British construction company Hanson, which led to the formation of Lehigh Hanson, which has its headquarters in Texas.
Lehigh Hanson operates 19 cement producing plants in the US and mainly deals in cement, aggregates, and Asphalt, and Ready-mix concrete.
4. Buzzi Unicem
Buzzi Unicem is an Italian company and one of the top cement producers in the US. The company’s US headquarters are based in Pennsylvania. Buzzi Unicem has 7 cement factories in the US with a total production capacity of 9 million tons.
Buzzi Unicem mainly specializes in masonry cement and Portland cement and supplies top various concrete product companies and paving firms.
5. Ash Grove Cement
Ash Grove was originally an American company but was recently acquired by CRH plc, an Ireland based building materials company. Ash Grove is one of the top cement producing companies in the US with more than 135 years in the country.
The company has 8 cement plants in the US, all of which have been certified ISO 14001:2004. The company emphasizes the quality of its products and adheres to internationally-agreed environmental standards in its cement manufacturing process.
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6. Martin Marietta Materials
Martin Marietta has its headquarters in North Carolina and one of the top cement producers in the US. The company specializes in the production of cement, aggregates, ready mix concrete, and other cement-related products. Martin Marietta has operations in 27 states in the US and also offices in the Bahamas and Canada.
7. Eagle Materials
Eagle Materials has 7 cement factories in the US and one of the top cement producers in the country. The company, which has its headquarters in Texas, also produces gypsum, wallboard, paperboard, concrete, and aggregates. Currently, the company has an annual production capacity of 5 million tons.
8. Essroc Cement
Essroc is a subsidiary of Italcementi, an Italian multinational cement producer. Italcementi was ranked the fifth largest cement producer in the world until it was acquired by Heidelberg in 2016. Essroc was initially called Coplay cement which changed its name after it was acquired by Heidelberg and integrated with Lehigh Hanson. Essroc currently works through Lehigh’s business lines and specializes in the production of cement, ready mix concrete, and aggregates.
9. Argos Cement
Argos has its headquarters in Colombia and a leading global producer of cement. The company has four cement plants in the US and is ranked fourth-largest cement producer in Southeast USA. Argos mainly produces concrete, cement, masonry, and aggregates.
10. St. Marys Cement
St. Marys cement has its roots in Ontario, Canada but later expanded its business to the US. Currently, it has a total of six cement factories, with four in the US and two in Canada. In 1991, the company was acquired by Votorantim Cimentos, a Brazilian based cement manufacturer. St. Marys has an annual production capacity of around 5 million tons.
Cement Production in USA
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, production of Portland cement in USA in the year 2018 was 85.4 million tons. The top 10 Portland cement manufactures in USA are LafargeHolcim, CEMEX, Lehigh Hanson, Buzzi Unicem, Ash Grove Cement, Martin Marietta Materials, Eagle Materials, Essroc Cement, Argos, and St. Marys Cement.
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