Sources: Martin Marietta Materials, Raleigh, N.C.; Vulcan Materials, Birmingham, Ala.; CP staff
Consistent with recent years’ near-equal financials, sand & gravel and crushed stone top guns Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta Materials report respective 2019 sales of $4.9 billion and $4.74 billion, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $1.27 billion and $1.25 billion.
Vulcan Materials shipped 215 million tons of aggregate, 3.1 million yd. of ready mixed and 12.7 million tons of asphalt in 2019. “Widespread improvements in pricing helped drive 8 percent growth in our industry-leading unit profitability and double-digit growth in Adjusted EBITDA,” observes Vulcan Chairman Tom Hill. “Industry leadership in safety and pace-setting unit margins are both evidence of our strong and healthy business.
“Demand in our markets will continue to benefit from higher levels of highway funding and continued growth in residential and nonresidential markets. This visibility into demand growth has already set the stage for solid price improvement in 2020. Price improvement coupled with our four strategic initiatives (Commercial and Operational Excellence, Logistics Innovation and Strategic Sourcing) should continue to increase unit profitability.”
Martin Marietta shipped 191 million tons of aggregate, 8.5 million yd. of ready mixed concrete, 3.8 million tons of cement, and 2.9 million tons of asphalt in 2019. Chairman Ward Nye confirms last year as “the most profitable in our Company’s history. Driven by improved shipments, pricing and profitability across the vast majority of our Building Materials business, we achieved our eighth consecutive year of growth for revenues [and] adjusted EBITDA.
“Our 2020 outlook remains positive across three primary construction end-use markets. We believe construction growth in Martin Marietta’s top 10 states will continue to outpace national averages and serves to reinforce our positive pricing outlook. Further supported by attractive market fundamentals and demand trends across our geographic footprint, as well as region-specific third-party forecasts, we expect the current construction cycle to expand at a steady and sustainable pace.”