CEMENT MATERIALS. 75 
LOCATION WITH RESPECT TO MARKETS. 
In order to secure an established position in the trade, a new cement plant should have 
(a) a local market area within which it may sell practically on a noncompetitive basis, and 
(b) easy access to a larger though competitive market area. 
COST OF EQUIPMENT AND ERECTION. 
Exclusive of costs of land, the cost of equipping and erecting a good plant will fall within 
the limits of $50,000 and $80,000 per kiln. These limits may seem wide, but it is difficult 
to make a closer general estimate. Two plants recently built cost as follows: 4-kiln plant, 
total cost $287,000; cost per kiln, $71,750; 6-kiln plant, total cost $373,000; cost per kiln, 
$62,167. 
For small plants of two to six kilns each such costs would not be exceptional. For larger 
plants it is to be remembered that the cost per kiln decreases with the increase in the num- 
ber of kilns. The following table of average costs will exemplif}^ this, and may be of use as 
a basis for general estimates: 
2-kiln plant (per kiln) $70, 000 to $80, 000 
4-kiln plant (per kiln) 60, 000 to 70, 000 
6-kiln plant (per kiln) 50, 0U0 to 60, 000 
8-kiln plant or over (per kiln) 45, 000 to 50, 000 
TOTAL CAPITAL REQUIRED. 
The amount of capital required to properly float a cement proposition is considerably 
in excess of the costs of land, construction, etc. The principal causes of this condition are: 
(a) It is within bounds to say that the average cement plant will not produce normal 
cement at a normal cost for a considerable period (varying from three to six months, or 
even longer) after the plant is first put into operation. Both the machinery and the per- 
sonnel of the plant will require numberless (though individually small) alterations before 
good work can be accomplished. The plant must be carried through this' profitless and 
expensive period entirely on its reserve capital. 
(b) It is becoming more and more the fashion among engineers to judge a cement by its 
past record, and to refuse bids from a plant not possessing a record of success in actual work. 
Even after the plant is working normally, therefore, steady sales can not be counted on for 
some time. The intervening time can, of course, be devoted to filling large stock houses, 
but this brings in no ready money to the plant. 
(c) Cement is sold on comparatively long time, while many of the expenses of the plant 
must be paid in cash. This is particularly the case with regard to quarry and mill labor, an 
item which alone in a 6-kiln plant may amount to from $4,000 to $6,000 per month. 
For these reasons it is advisable to make a very liberal allowance for the working capital 
required. A reserve amounting to from $20,000 to $25,000 per kiln would probably be 
found sufficient to cover most cases. This will increase the capital necessary so that it will 
be essential to allow about $100,000 per kiln to cover costs of erection, working capital, etc. 
CEMENT MATERIALS OF MISSISSIPPI. 
No cement of any type has ever been manufactured in Mississippi, but several large lime- 
stone areas occur in the State, and at least one of these is so well located with respect to fuel, 
supplies, and transportation routes as to give promise of being of future importance as a 
source of Portland cement material. 
The available limestones of the State may be grouped and described under three heads, 
the second being the most promising as the possible basis of a cement industry. 
The three groups noted are: 
(1) Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) limestones. 
(2) Cretaceous limestones (Selma chalk or "rotten limestone")- 
