U.S. cement consumption fell in September to 9.32 million, (Mt) short tons from August’s strong volume of 10.27Mt. For the three months total (3MMT), ending September, national Portland cement shipments were flat year on year (y/y), basis at 28.55Mt.

Referencing the Department of Commerce data, housing starts shot-up 13.7% month on month, (m/m) in October to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 1,290,000 units. Multi-family, (MF) surged by 36.8%, while single family, (SF) advanced by 5.3%.

The national ABI score for October rebounded to 51.7 after dipping below the 50 threshold in September. Regional monthly scores were: The South 50.8, Midwest 49.0, Northeast 54.0 and the West 49.8.

Referencing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s construction put-in-place (CPIP) shows that total infrastructure spending, (not seasonally adjusted in constant 2009 dollars) decreased by 5.3% three months year on year, (y/y) to $50.3 billion, (B).

Census Bureau non-seasonally adjusted (NSA), constant dollar CPIP data showed that September total construction expenditures grew by 4.0% year on year (y/y), to $1217.0 billion (B). Private expenditures advanced 6.7% y/y, while, State & Local contracted by 3.1% y/y.

The national ABI score for September fell-back to 49.1, its first score below 50 in seven months. The ABI remained north of 50 on a 3 month moving average, (3MMA) basis. Regional monthly scores were: The South 54.0, Midwest 50.4, Northeast 56.9 and the West 48.8.