Cement Supplies Cut By Hurricane

Laramie, Wy – About ten percent of the cement that comes into this country came through the port of New Orleans. But, because of Hurricane Katrina there is now less cement available for construction. The executive vice president of the Wyoming Contractors Association, Charlie Ware, says that means prices are up and companies in the state aren't able to do as much work as normal. He says one company in Casper now only does commercial contracts and stopped doing residential projects, other companies now work four days a week instead of five.
Ware says besides cement contractors are also dealing with higher costs for most other supplies, especially those made from crude oil. He says this will keep construction costs high for the foreseeable future. And he notes that Wyoming is hard hit by this because of all the construction going on due to the natural gas boom.