Martin Marietta offers an early view of 2020

Martin Marietta expects the current construction cycle will continue for the foreseeable future and expand at a steady pace in 2020, providing a healthy dose of opportunities in aggregate production. Photo by Kevin Yanik

Martin Marietta released its third-quarter 2019 results this week, and it offered a look ahead to 2020 upon doing so.

Martin Marietta expects the current construction cycle will continue for the foreseeable future and expand at a steady pace in 2020 for each of its three primary construction end-use markets.

For example, Martin Marietta expects infrastructure construction, particularly for aggregate-intensive highways and streets, to continue to benefit from the acceleration in state lettings and contract awards in its key states, continued FAST Act funding, and regulatory reform that allows for reduced permitting time for large projects.

The company’s management believes federal transportation funding will continue, at a minimum, at status quo levels in the absence of the prospective passage of a successor infrastructure bill before the FAST Act’s September 2020 expiration. This should provide the necessary confidence and visibility for states to continue to advance planned and future construction projects, the company says.

The company also expects states will continue to play an expanded role in infrastructure investment. Incremental funding at the state and local levels, through bond issuances, toll roads and tax initiatives, should grow at faster near-term rates than federal funding.

Martin Marietta’s top 10 states – Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska – accounted for 85 percent of the company’s total building materials revenues in 2018 and have all introduced incremental transportation funding measures within the last five years. Third-party forecasts also predict increased infrastructure investment in 2020 and beyond, Martin Marietta adds.

Martin Marietta also expects nonresidential construction to increase in both the commercial and heavy industrial sectors for the next several years across many of its key markets. The company also anticipates residential construction to continue on a growth track within the Martin Marietta geographic footprint.