California Aggregate Pricing AGGREGATE SUSTAINABILITY IN CALIFORNIA
Aggregate Price
The price of aggregate throughout California varies considerably depending on location, quality, and supply and demand. The highest quality aggregate, and typically most costly, is that which meets the California Department of Transportation’s specifications for use in Portland Cement Concrete (PCC). All prices discussed in this section are for PCC-grade aggregate at the plant site or FOB (freight on board). Transportation cost, which adds to the final cost of aggregate, is discussed in the next section.
Regional variations make it difficult to estimate the average price of PCC-grade aggregate for the state. Over the last decade, prices have varied from $20 per ton or more in areas with depleting or depleted aggregate supplies and high demands to $7 to $8 per ton in areas with abundant aggregate supplies and low to moderate demands.
In the last decade, the highest prices aggregate in the state have been in the San Diego area, where PCC-grade sand is in short supply, causing prices to range up to $20-$22 per ton and in parts of the San Francisco Bay area where sand has also been in short supply and prices have ranged from $15 to $19 per ton.
In the Los Angeles metropolitan areas prices have been in the $13 to $16 per ton range with
aggregate from the sparsely populated Palmdale area at about $10 per ton. Aggregate from
Palmdale is also transported to Ventura County – a haul distance of about 60 miles, and into the San Fernando Valley-Saugus Newhall area. The cost of transportation in these cases adds
significantly to the final cost of the aggregate.
Currently, transporting aggregate a distance of 30 miles will increase the FOB price by about $4.50 per ton
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So in the past decade ending 2012, San Diego, followed by San Francisco and LA have been the best markets to be in for high quality aggregates. The pricing is interesting. We are not back to last decade high price levels in San Francisco yet. Too bad we`re not in San Diego! Transporting by truck is incredibly expensive.
Is $18 per ton realistic at the POLB?