This comprehensive study examines the US bricks and blocks industry by product, market, application and region. Historic data are provided for 1995, 2000 and 2005 with forecasts for the years 2010 and 2015. “Demand” is defined as being equal to production plus imports minus exports. This is synonymous with terms such as “sales” and “apparent consumption.” Data are presented in millions of units and millions of US dollars.

INTRODUCTION ix

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

II. MARKET ENVIRONMENT 4
General 4
Macroeconomic Environment 5
Demographic Trends 9
Population 9
Households 11
Consumer Spending Trends 12
Construction Trends 14
Residential Construction 18
Housing Completions 20
Housing Stock 23
Improvements & Repairs 24
Nonresidential Construction 25
Office & Commercial Construction 28
Institutional Construction 29
Industrial Construction 29
Nonbuilding Construction 30
Brick & Block Market Trends 32
Pricing Patterns 35
Foreign Trade 36

III. OVERVIEW 38
General 38
Manufacturing 39
Clay Brick Manufacturing 39
Concrete Block Manufacturing 41
Raw Materials 42
Vertical Integration 43
Environmental & Regulatory Issues 44
Competitive Materials 45

IV. PRODUCTS 47
General 47
Clay Bricks 50
Common Clay Brick 52
Glazed Brick 56
Other Clay Brick 58
Concrete Block & Brick 61
Structural Concrete Block 62
Decorative Concrete Block 65
Concrete Pavers 67
Concrete Brick 69

V. MARKETS 72
General 72
Residential 74
New Residential 75
Residential Improvements & Repairs 79
Nonresidential 82
New Nonresidential 84
Nonresidential Improvements & Repairs 86
Nonbuilding 89

VI. APPLICATIONS 92
General 92
Siding 95
Structural Applications 97
Chimneywork 98
Fencing 100
Other Applications 101

VII. REGIONS 104
General 104
Regional Demographic & Economic Trends 105
Regional Demographic Trends 105
Regional Economic Trends 107
Regional Construction Trends 109
Regional Housing Trends 111
Regional Nonresidential Construction Trends 113
Bricks & Blocks Demand 115
Northeast 117
New England 119
Middle Atlantic 120
Midwest 121
East North Central 123
West North Central 124
South 125
South Atlantic 127
East South Central 129
West South Central 130
West 130
Mountain 132
Pacific 133

VIII. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE 135
General 135
Industry Composition 136
Market Share 138
Competitive Strategies 141
New Product Development 143
Marketing & Distribution 144
Acquisitions & Divestitures 145
Company Profiles 148
Acme Brick Company, see Berkshire Hathaway
Acme Concrete Incorporated, see Rinker
The Belden Brick Company 149
Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated 151
Best Block Company, see Boral
Boral Limited 153
The Bowerston Shale Company 156
Carolina Ceramics Brick Company 157
Castaic Brick Company, see Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke Incorporated 158
CEMEX SA de CV 161
Central Precast Incorporated, see CRH
Cherokee Brick & Tile Company 163
Columbus Brick Company 164
CRH plc 165
Denver Brick Company, see Berkshire Hathaway
Elgin-Butler Brick Company 170
Endicott Clay Products Company 172
Featherlite Building Products Corporation, see Berkshire Hathaway
General Shale Brick Incorporated, see Wienerberger
Glen-Gery Corporation, see CRH
Hanson plc 173
Hebron Brick Supply Company 175
Henry Brick Company Incorporated 176
Ideal Concrete Block Company Incorporated 177
Jenkins Brick Company 179
Kasten Masonry 180
Keys Concrete Industries Incorporated, see Rinker
Lawrenceville Brick Incorporated 181
Lee Brick & Block LLC 182
Lee Brick & Tile Company Incorporated 183
McAvoy Brick Company 183
Morin Brick Company 184
Nash Brick Company 185
Old World Bricks 186
Oldcastle Architectural Product Group, see CRH
Pacific Clay Products Incorporated, see Castle & Cooke
PaverModule Incorporated, see Hanson plc
Pine Hall Brick Company Incorporated 187
Redland Brick Incorporated, see Belden Brick
Richards Brick Company 188
Rinker Group Limited 189
Robinson Brick Company 190
Stark Ceramics Incorporated 192
Tarmac America LLC, see Titan Cement
Taylor Clay Products Incorporated 193
Titan Cement Company SA 194
Triangle Brick Company 195
Whitacre-Greer Fireproofing Company 196
Wienerberger Baustoffindustrie AG 198
Yankee Hill Brick & Tile, see Castle & Cooke
Additional Companies Mentioned in Study 201

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NUMBER PAGE

SECTION I -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary Table 3

SECTION II -- MARKET ENVIRONMENT
1 Macroeconomic Indicators 9
2 Demographic Indicators 11
3 Consumer Spending 14 4 Construction Expenditures 18
5 Residential Building Expenditures 20
6 Housing Indicators 23
7 Residential Improvement & Repair Expenditures 25
8 Nonresidential Building Expenditures 28
9 Nonbuilding Construction Expenditures 32
10 Bricks & Blocks Market, 1995-2005 34
11 Bricks & Blocks Pricing 36
12 Bricks & Blocks Foreign Trade 37

SECTION IV -- PRODUCTS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand 48
2 Clay Brick Demand 52
3 Common Clay Brick Demand 56
4 Glazed Brick Demand 58
5 Other Clay Brick Demand 60
6 Concrete Block & Brick Demand 62
7 Structural Concrete Block Demand 65
8 Decorative Concrete Block Demand 67
9 Concrete Pavers Demand 69
10 Concrete Brick Demand 71

SECTION V -- MARKETS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand by Market 73
2 Residential Markets for Bricks & Blocks 75
3 New Residential Market for Bricks & Blocks 79
4 Residential Improvement & Repair Market for Bricks & Blocks 82
5 Nonresidential Markets for Bricks & Blocks 84
6 New Nonresidential Markets for Bricks & Blocks 86
7Nonresidential Improvement & Repair Market for Bricks & Blocks 88
8 Nonbuilding Markets for Bricks & Blocks 91

SECTION VI -- APPLICATIONS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand by Application 93
2 Bricks & Blocks Demand in Siding 96
3 Bricks & Blocks Demand in Structural Applications 98
4 Bricks & Blocks Demand in Chimneywork 100
5 Bricks & Blocks Demand in Fencing 101
6 Bricks & Blocks Demand in Other Applications 103

SECTION VII -- REGIONS
1 Population by Region 107
2 Gross Domestic Product by Region 109
3 Construction Expenditures by Region 111
4 Regional Home Sales & New Housing Trends 113
5 Regional Private Nonresidential Construction Expenditures 115
6 Bricks & Blocks Demand by Region 116
7 Northeast Bricks & Blocks Demand 119
8 Midwest Bricks & Blocks Demand 123
9 South Bricks & Blocks Demand 127
10 West Bricks & Blocks Demand 132

SECTION VIII -- INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
1 Bricks & Blocks Sales by Company, 2005 137
2 Selected Acquisitions & Divestitures 147

LIST OF CHARTS

CHART NUMBER PAGE

SECTION II -- MARKET ENVIRONMENT
1 Year of Construction of Housing Stock, 2005 24
2 Bricks & Blocks Market, 1995-2005 34

SECTION IV -- PRODUCTS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand, 2005 49

SECTION V -- MARKETS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand by Market, 2005 74

SECTION VI -- APPLICATIONS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand by Application, 2005 94

SECTION VII -- REGIONS
1 Bricks & Blocks Demand by Region, 2005 117

SECTION VIII -- INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
1 Bricks & Blocks Market Share, 2005 139