Years ago, when I was relatively new as the editor-in-chief of Pit & Quarry, I made a comment during a company leadership meeting that peers still poke fun at me for.
I used the words “recession proof” to describe the industry.
Of course, no industry is recession proof. Those in the industry whose careers began in 2008 or earlier know this full well.
I suppose the greater point I tried to make was that our industry was doing well at a time when others were not. When government funding is in place for infrastructure, producers have a solid baseline by which they can do business.
Most industries don’t have billions of dollars in public funding to get them out of the starting blocks. Ours does, and we also have private dollars in residential and nonresidential construction – albeit more volatile markets historically – to propel us further forward.
The fundamental drivers propelling our industry have fortunately been in place for many years now. Looking back, the industry has slowly but steadily grown just about every year since the Great Recession.
Consider, too, that some of the industry’s top-performing years over the last 15 were through COVID – years that set some industries back – reaffirming the essential nature of aggregates.
“You’d think coming out of a slump like COVID that you’d kind of get a peak and it’d level off again,” says Karen Thompson, president of Haver & Boecker Niagara’s North America and Australia operations. “We’ve really seen the business continue in a very good form. It’s encouraging.”
That aggregates are essential is a boon lifting us up. Anyone picking up a copy of Pit & Quarry knows this already. Getting those outside the industry to grasp this concept will always be critical to our success, but the last decade and a half of gains shows our value is being recognized.
The sorts of gains captured during this 15-year run are arguably more desirable than the ones experienced in the years prior to the Great Recession. Kraemer Mining & Materials’ Cody Ladd explains.
“I like the kind of growth that we have right now because it’s a lot more sustainable,” says Ladd, president and COO at Kraemer Mining & Materials. “You’re not going up 30 percent one year. You’re not going up 10 percent one year. On a compound annual growth rate, you’re probably landing at like 5, 6 or 7.
“Then, if I really looked at it year over year, we’re probably somewhere around, just as an industry, 10 percent,” he adds. “And a lot of it’s with flat volumes. I think that’s a great narrative. That just means our product is appreciating in value.”
As long as U.S. infrastructure is in need of repair, opportunities should remain.
“Anytime I try to explain aggregates to anybody, I really try to explain infrastructure,” Ladd says. “I try to correlate where the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) is on road ratings.”
Right now, that ASCE grade on America’s infrastructure is a C-minus.
“As long as that’s there, I think we’re in a really good place,” Ladd says.
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