able for commercial construction due to reduced corporate tax rates, thus providing an incentive for investment. In addition, favorable commercial lending policies and recent survey results among archi- tects show an increase in demand for services, so the environment is very favorable for expansion. Looking within the commer- cial segment, low single- digit growth is basical- ly forecast across most verticals with education and office building activ- ity leading the way. All regions across the U.S. – except the North East – are poised for growth, with starts in the South Central and Mid-West states forecast to have the largest percentage of growth when looking at value of total starts. Tile consumption As previously mentioned, 2017 residential construction experi- enced another solid year of growth for new and remodeling activi- ty, and commercial construction increased modestly in terms of square footage. Based on this, we believe tile and stone combined consumption will increase to ~ 3.5 billion square feet in 2017, an increase around 4%. Based upon the above-forecasted growth in each market for 2018, we can segment the ceramic tile and stone industry accordingly, and calculate the respective share in square footage of each seg- ment with applicable growth per- centages based upon the 2018 outlook. A conservative estimate range for 2018 indicates combined tile and stone consumption growth of between 4% and 6% to approxi- mately 3.7 billion square feet. Tile and stone consumption esti- mates are naturally subject to all the macro-economic and subse- quent construction market risks as well. The recent tax law – coupled with a charged political environ- ment – plus a myriad of changes in key markets around the world can instantly impact forecasts. As with last year, all of the major institutions that track and forecast construction activity are projecting growth for 2018 at various rates. It is that consensus which makes us confident that we are looking forward to an exciting 2018, and continued growth of ceramic tile and stone! BUSINESS FEATURE –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Globally Proven Construction Solutions US Tile & Stone Consumption Forecast Square feet (millions) Source: LATICRETE Internal Forecast 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17F 18F +4.1% +4% 36 TileLetter | March 2018