Concrete's Share of Highway Paving Increases

At the end of 2011, concrete’s market share of U.S. highway paving volume for the year stood at 17.5 percent, its highest level on record, based on available data through 2003. The previous high was 15.2 percent in 2003. According to preliminary Portland Cement Association (PCA) Market Intelligence 2012 data, the first quarter of 2012, the share is at 13.8 percent, an increase of 0.8 percent from the first quarter of 2011. Concrete’s market share has increased from a long-term average of 14.4 percent to an average of 16.4 percent over the last three years. This lift coincides with increases in energy prices since 2008.   PCA expects this trend to continue as concrete’s relative competitive position against asphalt improves.

Oman Data Systems provides state DOT bid tabulations from which PCA gathers highway paving volume and spending information by state. Using this information, the highway paving market share for asphalt and concrete can be determined. The paving market shares for volume are calculated based on the amount of each material’s paving tons as a percentage of total tons bid for the specific year.