Czech Cement

August 25, 2011 — The Editors

Cement production in the Czech Republic has shown signs of a recovery in the first half of 2011. Today’s market size is the estimated total production of cement in Czechoslovakia in 2011.

Geographic reference: Czech Republic
Year: 2011
Market size: 3.3 million metric tons
Source: “Production rise is not the end of Czech tunnel,” Global Cement Weekly, August 24, 2011, page 2, available online here.
Original source: Jan Hrozek, Chairman of the Ceskomoravsky Cement Company
Posted on August 25, 2011

Posted in Cement, Construction Materials, Mining. No Comments »

Crushed Stone

August 12, 2011 — The Editors

Crushed Stone Sales Stats

The market for crushed stone grew steadily through the first half of the last decade peaking in 2006 and then falling sharply as the housing market bubble imploded. The pattern can be seen clearly in the graphic which presents curshed stone sales, or use by producers, measured in quantity as well as value for the years 1995 through 2009.

Today’s market size is the value of crushed stone sales by producers in 2009. The data do not include American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2009
Market size: $11.3 billion
Source: 2009 Mineral Yearbook, “Table 1: Salient Crushed Stone Statistics,” page 71.5, April 2011, available online here.The graphic was produced with data from this report as well as earlier editions of the same report.
Original source: U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS

Posted in Construction Materials, Mining. No Comments »

Salt

June 15, 2011 — The Editors

World production of salt has grown at just above the rate of population growth over the last quarter century or so—global salt production grew by 35% while world population grew by 38% between 1985 and 2007. Salt is used in many ways, in the treatment of water, in agricultural applications, as an industrial input, in deicing operations and as a spice or food additive. In the United States, food grade salt is the smallest of the categories of salt by end use. In fact, nearly two thirds of U.S. salt consumption annually is related to the deicing of roadways. This makes us wonder (with a bit of tongue in cheek) whether looking at changes in the number of paved roads there are in the northern reaches of the northern hemisphere and the southern reaches of the southern hemisphere may be a better gauge for predicting future salt demand in the world.

Today’s market size is the quantity of salt producted worldwide in 1985 and in 2007, measured in millions of metric tons.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 1985 and 2007
Market size: 190.6 and 257.0 million metric tons respectively
Source: “World Salt Production,” a spreadsheet presented on the Salt Institute’s web page, available online here.

Posted in Chemicals, Mining, Salt. No Comments »

Molybdenum

June 8, 2011 — The Editors

U.S. production and consumption figures for Molybdenum over 30 years

Molybdenum, a Group 6 chemical, is a refractory metallic element. The ability of molybdenum to withstand extreme temperatures without expanding or softening very much makes it useful in a variety of applications that involve intense heat. The manufacture of armour, aircraft parts, electrical contacts, industrial motors and filaments are among the industrial uses of molybdenum. It is used principally as an alloying agent in steel, cast iron, and superalloys to enhance corrosion resistance, strength, toughness, and weldability.

Today’s market size is the value of domestically produced molybdenum based on the average oxide price in 2010. The graphic shows production and apparent consumption figures for a period of 30 years, from 1980 — 2010. Apparent consumption is a calculated figure based on production, plus imports, less exports plus or minus change in stock.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $885 million
Source: “Molybdenum Statistics and Information” part of a series of reports on different minerals and commodities produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and available online here.
Original Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Posted in Metals, Mining. 4 Comments »

Helium, Grade-A

June 6, 2011 — The Editors

Helium production and consumption

For those not involved in one of the industries in which helium is an input, the term may conjure images of party balloons. But, helium is used in a variety of industrial applications. In the United States its end users break down in the following categories: 32% for cryogenic applications; 18% for pressurizing and purging applications; 13% is used for welding; 18% for controlled atmospheres; 4% for leak detection; 2% for breathing mixtures and the remaining 13% for other applications, like party balloons.

Today’s market size is the estimated value of domestically extracted grade-A helium in 2010. The graphic shows production and apparent consumption figures for a period of 30 years, from 1980 — 2010. Apparent consumption is a calculated figure based on production, plus imports, less exports plus or minus change in stock.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $730 million
Source: “Helium Statistics and Information,” part of a series of reports on different minerals and commodities produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and available online here.
Original Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Posted in Chemicals, Mining, Oil & Gas. 3 Comments »

Minerals in Wyoming

June 2, 2011 — The Editors

Taxable value of WY minerals

Mining and extraction industries in Wyoming saw a significant decline in 2009 after peaking in 2008 for the decade but 2010 saw a strong recovery over 2009. The graph shows taxable value for all minerals extracted annually in Wyoming from 2001 through 2010. Wyoming’s mineral wealth is providing the state with a strong base for recovery from the recession that began in December 2007.

Today’s market size is the total value of all minerals extracted in 2010. The minerals included in this total are oil, natural gas, coal, bentonite, trona, uranium, sand and gravel.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2001 and 2010
Market size: $6.74 and $15.49 billion respectively
Source: Barron, Joan, “State’s Mineral Valuation Booms,” Casper Star Tribune, page 1, June 1, 2011.
Original Source: State of Wyoming

Posted in Coal, Energy, Metals, Mining, Natural Resources, Oil & Gas. No Comments »

Iron & Steel

May 31, 2011 — The Editors

Iron & Steel in the U.S. over 30 years

The year 2010 saw a strong recovery for iron ore production in the United States after a particularly strong downturn in 2009. The market size presented today is the value of all iron and steel production in the country in 2010. The state of Indiana accounted for 24% of the total raw steel production, followed by Ohio with 10%, and Michigan and Pennsylvania each accounting for 7%.

The graphic shows iron and steel production and apparent consumption figures for a period of 30 years, from 1980—2010. Apparent consumption is a calculated figure based on production, plus imports, less exports plus or minus change in stock.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $139 billion
Source: “Iron and Steel, Statistics and Information,” Mineral Industry Survey, a series of reports produced by the U.S.Geological Survey, made available online and last updated on May 19, 2011. Here is a link to the USGS site.
Original Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS

Posted in Metals, Mining. 1 Comment »

Cement

May 11, 2011 — The Editors

Cement Production Graph

A decade plus worth of production data on the cement industry shows a pattern with which we are familiar, the build-up and crash of the housing market. Most of the construction materials industries have seen similar patterns of growth and decline in the 2000s. Early data on 2010 show that sales of cement in that year reached a 27 year low, falling 45% (59 million metric tons) off the high reached in 2005.

The market size presented below is the number of metric tons of portland and masonry cement produced in the United States in 2010 and the approximate value of that cement if shipped from the mill the same year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 62.8 million metric tons with an approximate value of $5.7 billion
Source: “Cement,” part of an annual series titled Mineral Commodities Summaries, published by the U.S. Geographical Survey and available online here.
Original Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS

Posted in Cement, Construction Materials, Mining. No Comments »

Steel Production

March 21, 2011 — The Editors

The production of crude steel around the world rebounded in 2010, rising 15% over the 2009 production levels. In terms of crude steel production by nation, China led the world in 2010 with 44.32% of world production, followed by Japan with 7.75%, the United States with 5.70% and Russia with 4.47%.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: 1,414 million metric tons
Source: “World Crude Steel Output Increases by 15% in 2010,” January 21, 2011, p. NA. Available online here.
Original Source: World Steel Association
Posted on March 21, 2011

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Iron Ore Mining

November 10, 2010 — The Editors

Today we look at iron ore, as a sort of hat tip to the anniversary of the sinking of the Great Lakes Freighter, the Edmund Fitzgerald, thirty-five years ago today. The Fitzgerald was carrying iron ore pellets.

The Bureau of the Census definition of iron ore mining reads as follows: “This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) developing mine sites, mining, and/or beneficiating (i.e., preparing) iron ores and manganiferous ores valued chiefly for their iron content and/or (2) producing sinter iron ore (except iron ore produced in iron and steel mills) and other iron ore agglomerates.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007
Market size: $2.96 Trillion (value of primary product shipments)
Source: “2007 Economic Census: Sector 21: Mining: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States 2007 and 2002″, October 16, 2009, [Online] here.
Original Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

Posted in Market Size, Mining. No Comments »
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