7.4.5Segment

Industrial Minerals & Aggregates

Aggregates producers, industrial sand miners, limestone quarry operators, and specialty mineral companies.

4
Verticals

Overview

Industrial Minerals & Aggregates covers the mining and quarrying of construction aggregates (crushed stone, sand, and gravel) and industrial minerals. At ~$29B in raw extraction it is led by aggregates majors (Vulcan Materials, Martin Marietta, CRH, Heidelberg Materials) operating thousands of local quarries and pits.

Aggregates are the quintessential local-monopoly infrastructure business — heavy and low-value relative to weight, they cannot be shipped far, giving quarries pricing power within their service radius. Demand tracks construction and infrastructure (with the IIJA a major tailwind), and pricing has been consistently strong. It is consolidating around scaled aggregates producers and a prized, durable, M&A-active infrastructure asset class.

Market snapshot

Market size
~$60B
Growth
~3.7%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~3,179 firms
Firms by employee count

69.6% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 2,211 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe968 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
54957%
100–499
22323%
500+
19620%

Aggregates are the least glamorous and most defensible business in mining: crushed stone cannot travel far before freight exceeds its value, so every quarry holds a local monopoly inside its haul radius. Permitting new pits is close to impossible near cities, which makes existing ones appreciate simply by staying open.

NAICS 212311, 212312, 212313, 212319, 212321, 212322, 212323, 212390, 423520. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Aggregate and industrial-mineral sales (local pricing power)

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$18,966,222
Revenue per employee
$680,938
Employees per firm
24.0
Recurring revenue
Moderate–High

recurring construction-driven demand

EBITDA margin
Strong

local-monopoly pricing power

Capex intensity
High

Characteristics

  • Scale-driven — payroll is only 10% of revenue; the cost base is assets, not headcount
  • Deep strategic-buyer pool — 196 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has trade buyers
  • Quintessential local-monopoly infrastructure business.
  • Heavy/low-value: cannot be shipped far (pricing power).
  • IIJA and infrastructure demand a major tailwind.

NAICS 212311, 212312, 212313, 212319, 212321, 212322, 212323, 212390, 423520. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandOklahomaMissouriArkansas

Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. Aggregates operations spread with construction demand but cannot travel to it, so quarries proliferate where geology and growing markets coincide.

OklahomaArkansasMissouri

U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 212311/212312/212313/212319/212321/212322/212323/212390/423520. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityHigh

Who’s acquiring

  • Aggregates majors (Vulcan, Martin Marietta, CRH)
  • Building-materials strategics
  • Infrastructure & PE investors

What’s driving deals

  • Roll-up of local quarries and pits.
  • IIJA and infrastructure-driven demand.
  • Pricing power and durable-asset appeal.

Verticals in this segment

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