Knife River Corporation (‘Knife River’) is an aggregates-led construction materials and contracting services provider in the United States.
The company's aggregate reserves provide the foundation for its vertically integrated business strategy, with approximately 37 percent of the company's aggregates in 2024 being used internally to support value-added downstream products (ready-mix concrete and asphalt) and contracting services (asphalt paving, heavy-civil construction, concrete construction,...
Knife River Corporation (‘Knife River’) is an aggregates-led construction materials and contracting services provider in the United States.
The company's aggregate reserves provide the foundation for its vertically integrated business strategy, with approximately 37 percent of the company's aggregates in 2024 being used internally to support value-added downstream products (ready-mix concrete and asphalt) and contracting services (asphalt paving, heavy-civil construction, concrete construction, site development and grading services, and, in some segments, the manufacturing of prestressed concrete products). The company is strategically focused on being the provider of choice in mid-size, high-growth markets.
Through the company’s network of several active aggregate sites, multiple ready-mix plants, various asphalt plants, and a few liquid asphalt terminals, the company supplies construction materials and contracting services to customers across various states. The company's construction materials are sold to public and private-sector customers, including federal, state, and municipal governments, as well as industrial, commercial, and residential developers and other private parties. The company's contracting services are primarily provided to public-sector customers for the development and servicing of highways, local roads, bridges, and other public-infrastructure projects.
The company has broad access to aggregates in most of its markets, which forms the foundation of its vertically integrated business model. The company shares resources, including plants, equipment, and people, across its various locations to maximize efficiency. The company also transports its products by truck, rail, and barge, depending on the particular market, to complete the vertical value chain. The company's strategically located aggregate sites, ready-mix plants, and asphalt plants, along with its fleet of ready-mix and dump trucks, enable the company to better serve its customers.
Segments
As of December 31, 2024, the company operated in 14 states across the United States through six operating segments: Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, North Central, South, and Energy Services. These operating segments are used to determine the company's reportable segments: Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services, which are based on its method of internal reporting and management of the business. Four of the company's reportable segments are aligned by key geographic areas due to the production of construction materials and related contracting services, and one is based on product line.
Each geographic segment offers a vertically integrated suite of products and services. Each of the company's geographic segments mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates (crushed stone and sand and gravel); produces and sells asphalt; produces and sells ready-mix concrete, as well as vertically integrating its contracting services to support its aggregate-based product lines. Contracting services include heavy-civil construction, asphalt and concrete paving, and site development and grading. The Energy Services segment, which has locations throughout the company's geographic footprint, produces and supplies liquid asphalt, primarily for use in asphalt road construction, and is a supplier to some of the company's other segments.
On January 1, 2025, the company completed a reorganization of its operating segments, including the management of the segments, to align with its business strategy. In the first quarter of 2025, the company will begin reporting its financial information under four operating segments: West, Mountain, Central and Energy Services. Under the new operating structure, the previous Pacific and Northwest operating segments will become the West operating segment and the North Central and South operating segments will become the Central operating segment.
Business Strategy
The company's strategy is to maintain and grow a sustainable, profitable business by leveraging its vertical integration, and strategic acquisition program. The company strives to offer high-quality products and services while emphasizing safety, empowering its team members, being environmentally responsible and engaging with its local communities.
The company's EDGE strategy is focused on further strengthening its market position through organic and inorganic growth opportunities, with an emphasis on aggregate-based operations in mid-sized, high-growth markets.
Industry
The company participates in the following primary markets: aggregates, ready-mix concrete, asphalt, liquid asphalt and contracting services.
Liquid Asphalt
The company’s Energy Services segment supplies liquid asphalt to both internal and third-party customers, which helps support its vertically integrated business model. The segment has terminals in seven states, where it stores and manufactures value-added liquid asphalt, polymer modified asphalt and emulsions to meet the requirements of end users.
Contracting Services
The company vertically integrates its construction materials with contracting services such as aggregate laydown, asphalt paving, concrete construction, site development and bridges. The contracting services portion of the company’s business is heavily weighted toward public markets, which provide more stability throughout the economic cycles.
Products and Services
The company's core product lines include aggregates, ready-mix concrete, asphalt, and liquid asphalt. The company also performs related contracting services.
Aggregates
The company supplies aggregates through its 1.2 billion tons of permitted aggregate reserves, which are sourced from its aggregate sites across 11 states. The company focuses primarily on supplying markets with strong local demand, and in most cases serves customers close to its strategically located aggregate sites. In 2024, the company sold 31.8 million tons of aggregates, with 30.3 million being produced from all aggregate mining properties.
The company mines crushed stone and sand and gravel from its aggregate sites, as these aggregates are utilized in general construction and are a major component in its production of ready-mix concrete and asphalt paving products. Leveraging its vertically integrated platform, 34 percent of the company's aggregates revenue was derived from internal sales in 2024.
Ready-Mix Concrete
The company produces ready-mix concrete through its 106 ready-mix plants situated across 13 states. The company's vertically integrated portfolio of assets allows it to provide most of the aggregates it uses in the production of ready-mix concrete. Due to the time-sensitive nature of delivering ready-mix concrete, the company focuses on supplying customers near its facilities. In 2024, the company sold 3.5 million cubic yards of ready-mix concrete.
Incremental to the hauling capabilities across products and services, ready-mix concrete plants are complemented by the company's fleet of ready-mix trucks and drivers who safely deliver heavy materials on time. The company is an industry leader in safe and efficient delivery of ready-mix concrete and has pioneered what has become the industry-standard training program for ready-mix delivery professionals. The company continues to update and improve the program with a focus on safety for drivers and the public.
Asphalt
The company produces and delivers asphalt from 51 plants across 10 states, most often utilizing its own aggregates in the production process. Of the 51 plants, 20 are portable plants that support large asphalt paving projects on roadways, airports and commercial sites. Similar to ready-mix concrete, asphalt sets rapidly, limiting delivery to within close proximity to the production facility. In 2024, the company sold 6.5 million tons of asphalt.
Liquid Asphalt
The company distributes liquid asphalt through its Energy Services sites and has the capacity to service neighboring states through storage facilities capable of storing approximately 413,000 tons of liquid asphalt across multiple states, a 50 percent increase over the prior year, primarily due to the acquisition of Albina Asphalt in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company has nine liquid asphalt terminal sites and six used-oil collection points.
Other
Although not common to all locations, the company provides various other products and services, depending on customer needs. These include, but are not limited to, retail sales of cement in Alaska and Hawaii and petroleum recovery services in the Energy Services segment.
Cement Supply and Storage
Cement is a key ingredient in the production of ready-mix concrete. The company's core supply of cement is sourced from a diverse range of suppliers. The company has strategically located cement storage facilities in Alaska and Hawaii that can hold approximately 60,000 tons and 90,000 tons of cement, respectively. The company has six additional distribution centers with storage and barging capabilities across the islands of Hawaii.
Contracting Services
The company's contracting services include responsibilities as general contractor and subcontractor, aggregate laydown, asphalt paving, concrete construction, site development and bridges, and in some segments, the manufacturing of prestressed concrete products. Vertical integration allows the company to have direct internal access to critical raw materials, resulting in competitive advantages from better control of product inventory. In 2024, most of the company's contracting services were related to ‘horizontal’ construction, such as streets and highways, airports, and bridges for customers in the public sector. In the private sector, the company's contracting services projects were within the residential, commercial, and industrial markets.
End Markets
Public Sector: As of November 2024, approximately 43 percent of IIJA formula funding has yet to be obligated to projects in the company's market areas. In 2024, a few of the states where the company operates have passed ballot measures to increase their transportation investment. Additionally, DOT budgets in the states where the company operates remain strong, which favorably affects its outlook. The company continues to monitor the implementation and impact of these legislative items and state DOT budgets.
Private Sector: The company's private-sector customers include both residential and nonresidential construction applications. The company leverages its diverse geographic footprint to partially offset volatility originating from single local economies, and has the flexibility to reallocate resources from markets experiencing a downturn to markets that may be experiencing an economic upswing.
Residential construction typically includes single-family homes and multi-family units, such as apartments and condominiums. Alternatively, nonresidential construction includes all privately financed construction other than residential structures, such as data centers, warehouses, office buildings, factories, shopping malls, restaurants, and other commercial structures. Nonresidential construction tends to lag residential activity and is driven by population and economic growth trends and activity levels.
Customers
The company's customers consist of public and private-sector customers, with public-sector customers contributing about 83 percent of the company's revenues from contracting services in 2024. The public side includes federal, state, and municipal governmental agencies with contracting services projects related to highways, streets, and other public infrastructure. Funding available for construction from governmental agencies depends on federal, state, and municipal budgets allocated to the expansion and improvement of national infrastructure. The private side includes a broad spectrum of customers across industrial, commercial, and residential developers and other private parties.
The company's top 15 customers accounted for about 22 percent of its 2024 revenue, of which seven were state-level DOTs.
Competition
The company faces competition in some markets from large, publicly traded aggregates producers in the United States, including Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., CRH plc, Eagle Materials, Inc., Granite Construction, Inc., Heidelberg Materials, Holcim, Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Construction Partners, Inc., and Vulcan Materials Company.
Seasonality
Results are affected by seasonal fluctuations, with the second and third quarters (year ended December 31, 2024) historically being the quarters with the highest activity. The company's ability to provide contracting services in the states where it operates depends on the weather. In states with colder winter weather, the company's contracting services are primarily performed from May through October, compared to most of the year in states with consistent warmer weather.
Environmental Regulations
The company is subject to complex federal, state, and local environmental compliance and reclamation regulations. These federal, state, and local laws and regulations include, among others: the federal Clean Air Act and the federal Clean Water Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration; the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the federal CERCLA; the federal EPA; and occasionally, the Endangered Species Act. These laws and regulations impose numerous obligations and limitations on the company’s operations, including:
Zoning and land use requirements to obtain a permit or other approval before conducting regulated activities;
Restriction on the types, quantities and concentration of materials that can be released into the environment (including noise and discharges to air and water);
Restrictions on the management of hazardous wastes and underground storage tank systems, as well as obligations to clean up or remediate spills of hazardous materials into the environment;
Limitation or prohibition of activities on certain lands lying within wilderness, wetlands or other protected areas;
Obligations to restore or reclaim former mining areas;
Requirements to comply with specific health and safety criteria addressing worker protection; and
The imposition of substantial liabilities for pollution which may result from the company’s operations.
The company's operations are also subject to California emission reductions and regulatory compliance. The California Air Resources Board has implemented several regulations around air quality standards, including reporting requirements. These regulations are based on source categories, several of which impact the company. The three categories having the most impact to the company’s California operations are: off-road diesel particulate and oxides of nitrogen; on-road diesel particulate and oxides of nitrogen; and harbor craft diesel particulate and oxides of nitrogen.
History
Knife River Corporation was founded in 1917. The company was incorporated in 2022.