Market Analysis of Construction Materials with Recommendations for the Future of the Industry

Download or read book Market Analysis of Construction Materials with Recommendations for the Future of the Industry written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to the volatility of current highway construction commodity prices, owners, contractors, and designers are facing serious challenges in both short-term estimating and long-term planning. Among these challenges is significant uncertainty about the prices and availability of critical highway construction materials; steel, for example, increased in price from 600 dollars per ton to over 1400 dollars per ton in just eight years. At the same time, nearly all facets of the infrastructure in the United States require redesign, expansion or repair. Planners need to make decisions which maximize the value of investment dollars while at the same time considering the environmental and human factors associated with that investment. One way to reduce the uncertainty and make better investment decisions is by studying the past, present and future commodity prices and availability. In this research, the authors focus on commodities for highway construction such as diesel, asphalt, cement, aggregates and steel. Recent economic trends for these commodities show how production, supply and demand affect the US unit prices. Forecasts for the price trends of the commodities are developed. Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) results are presented.