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TOP NEWS Agreement Reached House and Senate lead‐ ers reached an agree‐ ment Sept. 9 to extend surface transportation and aviation programs until Mar. 31, 2012, and Jan. 31, 2012, respectively. The Road Connection KPI‐JCI and Astec Mobile Screens announced a new national campaign, "The Road Connection," that will spotlight the need for infrastructure fund‐ ing and increase pres‐ sure on government to fund road construction. Caterpillar Global Mining Caterpillar celebrated the integration of Bucyrus under the Caterpillar Global Mining umbrella with a media event in Milwaukee noting that the complete product line will be converted to Cat model numbers and trade dress, "a decision made by both Caterpillar and Bucyrus leadership teams and one asked for by our customers." ECONOMIC INDICATORS The value of new construction starts in August advanced 8 percent, according to McGraw‐Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw‐Hill Companies. Highways and bridges declined 21 percent. Nationwide housing starts declined 5 per‐ cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000 units in August, according to fig‐ ures released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce reported that construction spending during July 2011 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $789.5 billion, 1.3 percent below the revised June estimate of $799.8 billion. ENERGY MSHA WATCH MSHA reported that during the last 11 years, the Metal/Nonmetal sector has had more fatal acci‐ dents in October than in any other month. The agency recommends focusing on work‐ ing safety and following industry best practices to prevent additional deaths. USGS STATS USGS Crushed Stone Commodity Specialist Jason Willett has supplied Rock Products with the latest list of the highest production single‐site quarries in the United States. The top five quar‐ ries are: 1 – Beckmann Quarry, Bexar County, Texas (Martin Marietta Materials); 2 – Balcones Quarry, Comal County, www.rockproducts.com Texas (Cemex SAB de C.V.); 3 – Ste. Genevieve Quarry, Ste. Genevieve County, Mo. (Tower Rock Stone Co.); 4 – White Rock Quarry, Dade County, Fla. (Vecellio & Grogan Inc.); 5 – Georgetown Quarry, Williamson County, Texas (Texas Crushed Stone). Diesel Fuel – The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects that on‐highway diesel fuel retail prices, which averaged $2.99 per gallon in 2010, will average $3.85 per gallon in 2011 and $3.87 per gallon in 2012. Projected U.S. refinery diesel fuel margins increase from an aver‐ age of $0.38 per gallon in 2010 to $0.65 per gallon in 2011, then fall to an average of $0.58 per gallon in 2012. Natural Gas – Projected natural gas consumption for electric power generation fell from 29.7 Bcf/d in July to 29.2 Bcf/d in August, as the extreme temper‐ atures (411 cooling degree‐days in July) receded somewhat (to 350 cooling degree‐days in August). Hurricane Irene, later downgraded to Tropical Storm Irene as it moved up the East Coast, brought wind, rain, and power outages near the end of the month. Electricity – Although cumulative cooling degree‐ days for 2011 through August for the entire United States were just 2.8 percent higher than the same period in 2010, some regions experienced extreme weather during the past few months. Record heat in Texas has led to record‐setting power demand. ROCKproducts • OCTOBER 2011 1