BRYAN, TX — A ripple of issues is causing a cement shortage in Texas. This is now another component of obstacles contractors are facing.
A shortage in the production of cement is affecting construction projects across Texas, but thanks to the central location of the Brazos Valley, companies here are working around it.
"There's cement producers in DFW, south of Austin, and then we import a lot of cement into Houston our transportation cost no matter which direction it goes relatively the same, so we have a great advantage here," said Matt Arnold, operations and material sales manager for Knife River Ready Mix.
Arnold shared with KRHD 25 News, that it all started with equipment failure at a plant located in Dallas. This issue alone cost the Texas market to lose one million tons of cement.
Add days of closures from February's winter storm and that was another loss to the market.
"It all compounded, and we've lost well over two million tons in Texas," added Arnold. "Major impact right now is the price we've seen anywhere between a 10 to 15 percent increase in cement in the last 6 months and they anticipate we're going to get more increases,"
It's also causing issues at manufacturing plants needing to hire more help, but not enough in the budget for more hours.
Then delays in importing goods are the last obstacle. This is something the public is all too familiar with.
For those of you finding trouble getting ahead start on your summer house projects due to shortages in lumber or steel, you can add cement to the list.
Currently, contractors are getting an allocated amount as suppliers try to make up for what has been lost.
Arnold explained the rain has helped cement companies back on track and hopefully help get out of this shortage very soon.
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