Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
NAICS 327: Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing — cement, glass, concrete, ceramics, and gypsum products.
Industry at a Glance
Sector-wide aggregates across all businesses classified under NAICS 327 (2017 classification frame). For specific sub-industries within this sector, see the individual reports below.
Industry Overview
Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing (NAICS 327) transforms raw minerals — clay, sand, limestone, feldspar, silica — into cement, ready-mix concrete, flat and container glass, ceramic tile, gypsum wallboard, and abrasive products. The subsector is tightly coupled to construction cycles: cement and concrete demand tracks housing starts and highway spending, while glass production follows both construction and automotive assembly schedules.
The cement segment is dominated by global producers operating U.S. kilns — Holcim, Heidelberg Materials (formerly Lehigh Hanson), CEMEX, and Buzzi Unicem together control a majority of domestic clinker capacity. Ready-mix concrete is far more fragmented, with thousands of local batch plants operated by independents alongside national players like U.S. Concrete (acquired by Adbri). Flat glass production centers on plants operated by NSG/Pilkington, Guardian Industries (a Koch subsidiary), and Vitro in locations across Ohio, Michigan, and Oklahoma. Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta dominate the aggregates-adjacent segments.
Energy costs are the dominant variable expense — cement kilns and glass furnaces are among the most energy-intensive industrial processes in the U.S. The EPA regulates kiln emissions under the Portland Cement NESHAP, and producers face increasing pressure from state-level low-carbon procurement standards. California's Buy Clean California Act sets embodied carbon limits for cement and steel purchased for state projects, a model several other states are adopting. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has provided a demand tailwind, but permitting timelines for new kiln or quarry capacity remain measured in years.
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Industry Trends
California's Buy Clean California Act and similar state-level low-carbon procurement standards are forcing cement producers to invest in carbon capture, alternative fuels, and supplementary cementitious materials to meet embodied carbon limits on public projects.
Heidelberg Materials' Mitchell cement plant in Indiana is piloting full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS), one of the first such projects in the global cement industry aimed at capturing over 90% of kiln CO2 emissions.
Domestic cement capacity is running near full capacity, pushing import volumes higher and driving Holcim, CEMEX, and others to evaluate new grinding stations and import terminal expansions along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard.
Flat glass manufacturers including Guardian Industries and NSG/Pilkington are investing in low-emissivity coatings and insulating glass units to capture demand from energy code upgrades in commercial and residential construction.
Ready-mix concrete producers are adopting CarbonCure and similar CO2 injection technologies that sequester carbon during batching, both to reduce environmental footprint and to meet green building specification requirements under LEED and similar frameworks.
Specialty Reports Available on Request
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is NAICS 327? ▾
NAICS 327 covers the manufacturing of products from nonmetallic minerals — cement, concrete, glass, ceramics, gypsum, lime, and abrasives. It is distinct from mining (NAICS 212), which extracts the raw materials, and from construction (NAICS 23), which installs the finished products. The subsector includes six industry groups spanning clay products, glass, cement and concrete, lime and gypsum, abrasives, and other mineral products.
Who are the largest cement producers operating in the United States? ▾
Holcim (Switzerland-based), Heidelberg Materials (Germany-based, formerly Lehigh Hanson), CEMEX (Mexico-based), and Buzzi Unicem (Italy-based) operate the majority of U.S. clinker capacity. Domestic cement production is largely controlled by foreign-headquartered multinationals because of the capital intensity and long asset lives involved in kiln operations. Martin Marietta's acquisition of the Texas Industries cement business added a major domestic player.
Why is cement in short supply domestically? ▾
U.S. cement demand has outpaced domestic kiln capacity additions for years because new kiln permitting takes 5-10 years and requires hundreds of millions in capital. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act boosted highway and bridge demand, while housing construction maintains baseline pull. As a result, the U.S. imports roughly 15% of consumption, primarily through marine terminals on the Gulf and East Coasts.
What is the Buy Clean California Act? ▾
The Buy Clean California Act (AB 262) requires state-funded construction projects to disclose and meet maximum global warming potential limits for purchased steel and cement based on Environmental Product Declarations. It is the first state law imposing embodied carbon limits on construction materials procurement and has influenced similar legislation in Colorado, New York, Oregon, and at the federal level through GSA pilot programs.
How are glass manufacturers responding to building energy code changes? ▾
Updated commercial energy codes (ASHRAE 90.1 and state-adopted variants) require lower window U-values and higher solar heat gain control, pushing demand toward triple-pane insulating glass units and advanced low-emissivity coatings. Guardian Industries and NSG/Pilkington have invested in coating lines and insulating glass production to serve this specification-driven market, which commands higher margins than commodity float glass.
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