Seemingly, no industry has been immune to the challenges of 2025 – least of all the construction materials industry.
Inflation and rising materials costs, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and economic and regulatory uncertainty are just some of the headwinds that made operating difficult this year. Producers, contractors, manufacturers and dealers have all felt the sting.
That doesn’t mean the year was all bad, though.
“Overall, it’s been crazy [this year],” says Chris Williams, vice president of operations at Capital Aggregates. “Across our aggregate companies, we’re going to have record or near-record years across the board.”
For Capital, the company’s strength in the face of these external challenges was highlighted with the opening of a new crushing spread and new asphalt plant at its Ozark Quarry.
“We budgeted to have a bit of a down year last year [at our Ozark Quarry] and that was perfect for trying to build this plant,” Williams says. “It’s an additional challenge when you’re working on a project, but it’s turned into one of our biggest years ever here.”
From one manufacturer’s perspective, the year was a strong one – even in the face of ongoing challenges.
“This year reflected solid fundamentals across the North American aggregate sector despite inflation and cost pressures,” says Karen Thompson, president of Haver & Boecker Niagara’s North American, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australian operations. “Demand held steady across the board as infrastructure and construction projects moved forward. We saw our customers focusing on reliability, plant optimization, data and diagnostics to improve uptime and extend the life of their equipment.”
Another manufacturer didn’t just survive this year – they thrived. Near the end of the year, Masaba celebrated the opening of a new steel fabrication facility in Vermillion, South Dakota. The nearly 150,000-sq.-ft. facility is adjacent to its 211,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility.
While there were still some lulls this year, wrapping up 2025 with the new facility’s grand opening was the cherry on top of what was an overall strong year for the company.
“We had a couple of slow months in the middle of the year,” says Mike Krajewski, president of Masaba. “I think everyone understands how the tariffs created a lot of economic uncertainty not only in our industries, but others as well. Once things settled down, it’s been great. We had a really strong year and we have a strong backlog going into next year.
“Getting this facility up and running, we feel like a bull in the chute,” he adds. “Now that the door is open, we’re going to go after it.”
National perspectives
Additional insights emerged in late 2025 in the form of third-quarter reports from some of the largest publicly-owned construction materials companies. The reports offered a glimpse at how producers performed between July and September, as well as year-to-date insights.
For Vulcan Materials, the largest aggregate producer in the U.S., the year has been a positive one, with company revenue and gross profit increasing both in the third quarter and over the first nine months of the year compared to 2024. Year-to-date revenue totaled $6.03 billion and gross profit through September reached $1.69 billion.
“The combination of our aggregates-led business and our commercial and operational execution has resulted in strong earnings growth and margin expansion through the first nine months of 2025,” says Tom Hill, chairman and CEO of Vulcan Materials. “We continue to execute well and remain focused on delivering another year of margin expansion and attractive growth in aggregates unit profitability.”
The narrative has been much the same for Martin Marietta this year. Both revenue and gross profit are up in the third quarter and year to date. Through the end of September, Martin Marietta’s revenue reached $4.62 billion and gross profit was $1.42 billion.
“Our third-quarter and year-to-date performance provide a meaningful indication of likely future outcomes,” says Ward Nye, chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta. “First, demand trends across our key end markets remain broadly constructive. Infrastructure activity continues to be strong, supported by record levels of federal and state investment.
“Second, nonresidential construction is benefiting from accelerating data center development, a recovering warehouse sector and early signs of renewed momentum in domestic manufacturing,” Nye adds. “Third, light nonresidential demand, while typically more interest rate-sensitive, has demonstrated notable resilience. While near-term residential demand remains subdued, moderating mortgage rates suggest a gradual path toward normalization. As product demand within these sectors collectively gain traction, Martin Marietta is well-positioned to capitalize on the positive opportunities with precision and discipline.”
Knife River was another company to offer third-quarter and year-to-date updates. The company’s construction materials revenue grew in the third quarter and year to date, totalling $1.35 billion through the first nine months of the year. Knife River’s gross profit, however, declined through the end of September ($432 million), though it grew in the third quarter.
“As we look at the full year, we are narrowing our 2025 revenue guidance to a range of $3.1 billion to $3.15 billion, and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) guidance to a range of $475 million to $500 million,” says Brian Gray, president and CEO of Knife River. “We are focused on finishing 2025 strong, and we expect the work we are doing to manage costs, optimize prices and grow our business to pay off in 2026 and beyond. We have record backlog and a skilled team that is eager to continue implementing our strategies and delivering for our shareholders.”
Associations assessments
2025 has been a big year for the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA). AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo made its St. Louis debut alongside the association’s Annual Convention, and Michele Stanley was named the new president and CEO of NSSGA.
Looking back, the association says its members have met this year’s challenges head-on and emerged successfully.
“The aggregates industry is very strong,” says Jen Dugas, vice president of membership and events at NSSGA. “In talking to our members, it sounds like sales have been really strong. Our manufacturing services companies say that while things may have softened, it’s still really strong. People are very bullish.”
Similarly, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers says it is in a good place as the year draws to a close. The association acknowledges the challenges its members face and is working with sister associations, such as NSSGA, to help them meet their goals.
“We’ve seen an increase in our membership numbers and engagement within our membership has grown exponentially,” says Megan Tanel, president of AEM. “The outlook is a little tough right now in construction in general. The tariffs are creating such uncertainty. All we can do is weed through the noise and share the impact of those tariffs, specific legislation or certain regulations, and what our ability is to either achieve what they’re looking for or how we can come together to achieve what the government is looking for in a way that is doable for our members.”
Finishing touches
Companies made the most out of 2025. Even if there were slow spots along the way, the construction materials industry can look back on this year as a success.
Growth and expansion were the norm, rather than stagnation and the status quo. And no matter what 2026 has in store, 2025 will be a year the industry can hang its hat on.
“ICM Solutions just acquired a crushing and screening division down in Arizona,” says Jared Riley, sales representative at ICM Solutions. “We’re covering Arizona and northern California, and we’ve expanded our footprint into the West – Idaho, Nevada, Utah – so it’s been a good year for us. Acquiring all of those companies, we’ve brought on a lot more employees, and ICM is building itself up to support everybody in the West.”
Bob Meyers, vice president of sales at US Equipment Sales & Rentals, says his company has also had success this year.
“It’s been great,” Meyers says. “We doubled our sales force and we’ve grown our business by over 30 percent in the last two years. For us, it’s been amazing.”
Related: 2025 in review: Setting the stage for the year ahead