Page 162 - Martin Marietta - 2025 Proxy Statement

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (Continued)
In line withthe Company’sstrategic objectives, management’soverall focus includes:
 Upholdingthe Company’scommitmentto its Mission, Vision andValues
 Building and maintainingthe world'ssafest, best-performing and most-durable aggregates-led public company
 Navigating effectively through construction cycles to balance investment decisions againstexpectedproduct demand
 Tracking shifts in populationdynamics, as well as local, stateand national economic conditions, to ensure changing
trends are reflected in theexecution of thestrategic plan
 Integrating acquiredbusinessesefficiently to maximizethe return on the investment
 Allocating capital ina prudent manner consistent with the following long-standing priorities while maintaining
financial flexibility:
─ Acquisitions
─ Organiccapital investment
─ Return of cash to shareholders throughboth meaningfuland sustainable dividendsaswellasshare
repurchases

Safety Performance
The Company’s safety cultureand performancesetsthe foundation for its long-termstrategic plan and its financialand
operational strength.For 2024,the Companyachieveda record company-wide Lost-Time Incident Rate (LTIR)of 0.129,the
eighth consecutiveyearofworld-class or better LTIR thresholds, and acompany-wideTotal Injury Incident Rate (TIIR) of 0.650,
the fourth consecutive yearofworld-class or better TIIR thresholds.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Building Materials Business
The BuildingMaterials businessservescustomers in theconstruction marketplace. The business’ profitabilityissensitive to
national, regional andlocal economic conditionsand cyclical swings in construction spending, which areaffected byfluctuations
in levels of public-sector infrastructure funding; interest rates; access to capital markets; and demographic, geographic,
employment andpopulationdynamics.
The heavy-side construction business, inclusiveofmuchof the Company’soperations, is conducted outdoors.Therefore,erratic
weather patterns, precipitationand other weather-related conditions, including flooding, hurricanes, extremehot andcold
temperatures,earthquakes, droughts and wildfires, cansignificantly affect production schedules, shipments,costs,efficiencies
and profitability.Generally,the financialresults forthe firstand fourth quarters are influencedby the impactsofwinter
weather, while thesecondand thirdquarterscan be subjecttothe impactsof heavy precipitationand excessive heat. The
impacts of erratic weather patternsare more fully discussed inthe BuildingMaterials Business’ KeyConsiderations section.
C
C
Product Lines
Aggregates areanengineered, granular material consisting of crushedstone, sandand gravel, manufacturedtospecificsizes,
grades andchemistryforuse primarily in construction applications. The Company’soperationsconsist mostly of open pit
quarries;however,the Companyisalsothe largestoperatorof underground aggregates mines inthe United States, with 14
activeunderground mineslocated in the East Group. The Company’s aggregates reserves average morethan85 years at the
2024 annualproductionlevel.
Cement is thebasic agentusedtobindcoarseaggregates, sandand water inthe production of readymixed concrete. Calcium
carbonate in the formof limestone is the principal rawmaterialused inthe production of cement. The Company has acement
production facilityin Midlothian, Texas, southofDallas/Fort Worth, andoperatestwo relateddistributionterminals. This
production facility produces Portland limestoneand specialty cements, withanannualclinker(an intermediary productof
cementproduction) capacityat December31, 2024 of approximately 2.4 milliontons. The facility operatedatapproximately
72% utilization for clinkerproduction in 2024.The Company completed a finishing capacity expansionproject at the Midlothian
plant inAugust2024, whichwill provide0.45 milliontonsofincremental annualcementproduction capacity.Further,the
Company hasconverted itsMidlothianplant to manufacture alesscarbon-intensivePortlandlimestone cement,known as Type
1L, which hasbeenapprovedby the Texas DepartmentofTransportationand allows the productionofmorecement withless
clinker.

Page54 ♦ 2024 Annual Report