Source: Allen-Villere Partners, New Orleans
Strong stock market performance plus progress in U.S. and China trade discussions have helped temper concerns of an economic slowdown moving into 2020. In his latest Concrete Products dispatch, “Will headwinds from the global economy affect us?,” however, leading construction materials industry management consultant Pierre Villere discusses a potential 180-degree shift in market forces that could impact concrete demand.
While other countries used to follow U.S. business cycles, he notes, forces weighing on overseas economies could wash back to our shores this year: As trade has grown to represent a larger share of domestic output, foreign sales are a more important factor in the financial performance of many U.S. companies.