World of Concrete Story

The World of Concrete held its largest event to date from Jan. 23-26 in Las Vegas with 91,628 attendees, an 11.1% increase over last year’s record, say event organizers. There were more than 1,739 exhibitors, including 400 new companies, showcasing 900,000-sq-ft worth of tools, techniques and equipment. In fact, more than 30,000-sq-ft of concrete was placed in the Las Vegas Convention Center parking lot for exhibitor demonstrations. And despite talk about a softening housing market, an expected surge in commercial and public construction could stoke a modest cement consumption increase in 2007-08, reports the Portland Cement Association, a Skokie, Ill.-based trade group. Higher cement usage in a more construction applications is aiding overall consumption, the PCA says, despite a 12.9% drop in new home starts nationwide last year. (Homebuilding accounts for about 25% of all Portland cement sales.)

“Concrete’s relative pricing compared to competing building materials will result in a 2% cement intensity growth in 2007,” said Ed Sullivan, PCA’s chief economist. “We expect overall construction activity to decline 1.8% in 2007, but concrete intensity growth will more than offset that. ”Consumption, as a result, will grow a modest 0.3% this year followed by a 2.7% increase in 2008. Industrial, resort and office sectors will see strong activity, along with military and security work, the PCA says.

Nonresidential and public construction concrete consumption is forecasted to grow 7.6% and 4.4% this year, respectively. “We are going to have more subdued economic growth, but that’s not bad from a historical perspective,” Sullivan said. “In 2008, we’re going to see a much better year with more positive gains.” Meanwhile, concrete could see increased use in highway construction due to high crude oil prices and refinery improvements. Concrete paving, in the past, had faced a capital cost disadvantage to asphalt which was cheaper but required more maintenance. That’s no longer the case, said World of Concrete attendees.

“The initial cost basis of concrete pavement is now on par with asphalt,” said Michael Ayers, technology director for the American Concrete Pavement Association, Skokie, Ill. “We have seen where even where there is a cost differential, it has narrowed significantly to 5% or 10%, whereas, in the past, the differential it had been pretty substantial.”