Holcim (US) Inc., among the fortunate companies to report no missing employees in Katrina's aftermath, cites damage to two cranes at its Theodore, Ala., cement plant. The company rented replacement cranes, which are now installed and operational. Shipments by truck and rail have resumed, and the facility's kiln was restarted and is producing at a limited rate. The company's Artesia, Miss., cement plant, Birmingham, Ala., slag grinding facility, and Quinton, Ala., fly ash operation are all running. Holcim's distribution terminals in Baton Rouge and Westlake, La., and Vicksburg, Miss., are open, as is the Globalplex reserve terminal in Louisiana, after being down for a time due to power loss. According to a company spokesperson, the only limitation to output from the terminals is the limited barge traffic. The company's biggest property hit is its 38,000-metric-ton-capacity New Orleans terminal, which suffered significant damage due to flooding and is not yet scheduled to resume operations.

Buzzi Unicem's 522,000-ton-per-year-capacity New Orleans AuCem slag cement plant remains without power, water, phone service and sewer service, and the company expects it will be some weeks or months before these are restored. Both the company's 10,000-ton-capacity Burnside, La., and Natchez, Miss., terminals have power back and are loading out cement; the 17,000-ton Brandon, Miss., terminal is still without power. Buzzi Unicem is reporting that ocean ships are now permitted into the Mississippi River and it will unload its next import ship directly into barges, which will then be sent to the company's 44,260-ton Orange, Texas, terminal.