With a climb seen in U.S. construction activity and a sense that equipment makers may finally have absorbed price hikes from decades of emissions-compliance upgrades, activity was brisk at the World of Concrete show, held in Las Vegas on Jan. 23-26.
“No matter how you look at it, the near-term economy is in good shape,” says Ed Sullivan, chief economist with the Portland Cement Association. “And [our analysis shows] you can take that and translate it into factors that will force construction activity.”