{{Short description|American construction materials company}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Distinguish|Vulcan Elements}} {{Infobox company | name = Vulcan Materials Company | logo = File:Vulcan Materials logo.png | type = Public company | traded_as = {{nyse|VMC}}<br />S&P 500 Component | slogan = | foundation = {{Start date and age|1909}} (as Birmingham Slag Company) | founder = {{Ubl|Solon Jacobs|Henry Badham}} | location = Birmingham, Alabama United States | key_people = J. Thomas Hill, Chief Executive Officer<br>Suzanne H. Wood, Chief Financial Officer<br>Denson N. Franklin III, General Counsel | industry = Construction materials | products = Crushed stone, sand and gravel | revenue = {{nowrap|{{increase}} $7.315 billion <small>(2022)</small><ref name="Vulcan 2022">{{cite web|url=https://ir.vulcanmaterials.com/news/news-details/2023/VULCAN-REPORTS-FOURTH-QUARTER-AND-FULL-YEAR-2022-RESULTS/default.aspx |title=VULCAN REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2022 RESULTS |publisher=Vulcan Materials Company |access-date =Apr 2, 2023}}</ref>}} | num_employees = 12,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1396009/000139600923000007/vmc-20221231x10k.htm#PartII_Item8|title=Vulcan Materials|website=SEC.gov|access-date=2023-04-02}}</ref> | num_employees_year = 2023 | homepage = {{url|https://www.vulcanmaterials.com|VulcanMaterials.com}} }}
'''Vulcan Materials Company''' ({{NYSE|VMC}}) is an American company based in Birmingham, Alabama. It is principally engaged in the production, distribution, and sale of construction materials. Vulcan is the largest producer of construction materials, primarily gravel, crushed stone, and sand, and employs approximately 12,000 people at over 400 facilities. Vulcan serves 22 states, the District of Columbia, Mexico, Canada, Bahamas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Vulcan's Crescent Market project led to construction of a large quarry and deep water seaport on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, just south of Cancún. This quarry supplies Tampa, New Orleans, Houston, and Brownsville, Texas, as well as other Gulf coast seaports, with crushed limestone via large 62,000-ton self-discharging ships.
==History== Vulcan Materials Company was founded in 1909 as the '''Birmingham Slag Company''' by Solon Jacobs and Henry Badham in Birmingham, Alabama. They recognized the potential to repurpose blast furnace slag from the local steel industry into materials for road construction and railroad ballast. The company was later acquired by the Ireland family in 1916, who expanded it.<ref>{{Cite web |author-mask=Vulcan Materials Company |title=Company History |url=https://www.vulcanmaterials.com/about-us/our-history |url-status=live |access-date=March 16, 2026 |website=Vulcan Materials Company}}</ref>
In the late 1980s Vulcan acquired Reed Crushed Stone, near Kentucky.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WkoZSm8sXQIC&q=Reed+Terminal+aggregates&pg=PA211|title = Minerals Yearbook|year = 1989|isbn = 9780160359316}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDW2hvyndDUC&q=vulcan+mineral+grand+river+operations&pg=PA191|title = Minerals Yearbook|year = 2009|isbn = 9781411323292}}</ref>
On November 16, 1998, Vulcan announced it was purchasing CalMat Company, a producer of asphalt and ready-mixed concrete based in Los Angeles, for $760 million in cash.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vrana |first=Debora |date=November 16, 1998 |title=Concrete Firm CalMat to Be Acquired for $760 Million |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-16-fi-43297-story.html |access-date=2024-08-10 |work=The Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
On June 7, 2005, Vulcan completed the sale of its chemicals business, known as Vulcan Chemicals, to Occidental Chemical Corporation. The sale of assets included Vulcan's chloralkali plants in Wichita, Kansas; Geismar, Louisiana; and Port Edwards, Wisconsin, as well as Vulcan Chemicals' joint venture located in Geismar, Louisiana. In 2005, Vulcan acquired 11 aggregates operations and five asphalt plants in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee.
On February 19, 2007, Vulcan announced that it would buy stone and cement producer Florida Rock Industries for $4.7 billion.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=amqbTdNtr8Pw | title=Vulcan Materials to Buy Florida Rock for $4.6 Billion (Update4) | work=Bloomberg | date=19 Feb 2007 | access-date=12 May 2015 |author1=Dolmetsch, Chris |author2=Lococo, Edmond |name-list-style=amp }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 February 2007|title=Vulcan Materials to buy Florida Rock for $4.6 billion|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-floridarock-vulcan-idUSN1944560620070220|access-date=27 May 2021|website=Reuters}}</ref> Vulcan completed the acquisition of Florida Rock on November 16, 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Zubko|first=Nick|date=19 March 2008|title=Florida Rock Industries Inc.: Under New Management|url=https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/companies-executives/article/21942309/florida-rock-industries-inc-under-new-management|access-date=27 May 2021|website=Industry Week}}</ref>
In March 2007, Vulcan announced that it had been named to Fortune Magazine's list of ''Most Admired Companies'' for the sixth time. The company was ranked first in its industry sector, "Building Materials, Glass." Overall, Vulcan ranked among the top 10 companies in the Fortune 1000 for both long-term investment and social responsibility.
In January 2014, Vulcan Materials announced they would be selling their Florida Rock Industry (cement and ready-mixed concrete) plants and equipment to Cementos Argos, of Colombia. In March 2014, Vulcan was able to fully divest these properties to Cementos Argos.<ref name="FloridaRockSale">{{cite news | url=https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=541695 | title=Vulcan selling former Florida Rock cement facilities | work=Jacksonville Daily Record | date=27 January 2014 | access-date=12 May 2015 | author=Basch, Mark | archive-date=December 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210213128/https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=541695 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In January 2018, Vulcan Materials was found to be partially responsible for the Bayou Corne sinkhole, along with Occidental Petroleum and Texas Brine Company.<ref>[https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_7856ff5e-f4ae-11e7-b86c-4f261682612b.html Judge: Fault for Bayou Corne sinkhole lies with Texas Brine, OxyChem, Vulcan; companies had decades of warnings] The Advocate</ref>
In June 2021, Vulcan Materials announced they would be acquiring US Concrete (USCR) for $74 per share, a 30% premium on the date of the announcement. U.S. Concrete was formed in 1999, with its headquarters in Euless, TX. The deal is valued at $1.3 billion. The acquisition will allow for integrated expansion of Vulcan and make the subsidiary debt-free with adequate working capital. The deal has been approved by both boards and will close in the second half of 2021.<ref name="USConcrete Acquisition">{{cite news | url=https://www.thestreet.com/investing/us-concrete-uscr-vulcan-materials-vmc-acquisition | title=U.S. Concrete Skyrockets on Deal to Be Bought for $1.29B by Vulcan | work=The Street | date=7 June 2021 | access-date=7 Jun 2021 | author=Lenihan, Rob}}</ref>
In early 2023, after being accused by president Andrés Manuel López Obrador of exporting materials from Mexico without a permit, the Mexican military seized a marine terminal belonging to Vulcan, leading to a diplomatic spat between the U.S. and Mexico.<ref>{{cite news |last=de Haldevang |first=Max |date=19 Mar 2023 |title=Vulcan Facility Seizure Adds to Tension Between US and Mexico |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-19/vulcan-facility-seizure-adds-to-tension-between-us-and-mexico |access-date=2025-10-27 |work=Bloomberg |location=}}</ref>
== See also ==
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Sister project links|auto=y}} * [http://www.vulcanmaterials.com Official website] * [https://www.justice.gov/atr/case/us-v-vulcan-materials-co-and-florida-rock-industries-inc ''U.S. v. Vulcan Materials Co. and Florida Rock Industries Inc.''], a US Supreme court case<!-- I'd fill this in, but I can't quite figure it out: {{caselaw source | case= | cornell = | courtlistener = | findlaw = | googlescholar = | justia = | leagle = | loc = | openjurist = | oyez = | vlex = }} --> {{Finance links | name = Vulcan Materials Company | symbol = VMC | sec_cik = VMC | yahoo = VMC | google = VMC }}
{{S&P 500 companies}} {{authority control}}
Category:Mining companies of the United States Category:Non-renewable resource companies established in 1909 Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Category:Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1909 Category:1909 establishments in Alabama