Overview
Knife River Corp. is a U.S.-based construction materials and contracting-services company. Its vertically integrated business centers on aggregates—including crushed stone, sand and gravel—and extends to asphalt, ready-mix concrete, liquid asphalt and heavy-civil construction, paving and site-development services.[1][2][3] The company served customers across 14 states in FY2025.[4]
Knife River’s stated mission is to build strong neighborhoods and communities. The business traces its founding to 1917 in North Dakota and became an independent publicly traded company in 2023.[5][6] For FY2025, it reported revenue of $3.146 billion and 5,298 employees.[7][8] [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][5]
Products & services
Knife River produces and sells crushed stone, sand and gravel; asphalt mixes; ready-mix concrete; liquid asphalt products; cement; and other building materials. Its contracting services include heavy-civil construction, asphalt and concrete paving, site development and grading, with bridge and specialty construction work also described. In some locations, the company manufactures prestressed concrete products.[9][10]
Asphalt mix is typically about 95% aggregate and 5% liquid asphalt, and is used in road construction, maintenance and repair. Liquid asphalt serves as the binder for aggregate; Knife River supplies it to internal and external customers and produces liquid asphalt, polymer-modified asphalt and emulsions at terminals in seven states.[11][12] The company also describes its aggregates, asphalt and paving, ready-mix delivery and concrete work, heavy-civil/site work, and specialty cement, railroad and marine construction services.[13][14][15][16][17]
In 2025, Knife River reported ready-mix production at 135 plants across 13 states and sales of 3.9 million cubic yards. It also reported 208 aggregate sites and 1.304 billion tons of mineral reserves; about 35% of aggregate reserves are used internally in downstream products and contracting.[18][19][10] Its 2025 product-line revenue included $617.1 million from aggregates, $779.4 million from ready-mix, $421.0 million from asphalt, $296.0 million from liquid asphalt, $279.8 million from other products and $1,383.9 million from contracting services. The company reported gross margins by these lines, but did not state their shares as percentages of total revenue.[20] [9][10][11][12][18][19][20][13][14][15][16][17][13][14][15][16][17]
Geographic presence
Knife River’s FY2025 filings describe operations across 14 states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington in the West; Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in the Mountain region; and Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas in the Central region. Energy Services also lists operations in Nebraska. By Q2 2026, the company described a 15-state operating market following its entry into Utah.[4][21][22]
For FY2025, segment revenue was $1,210.1 million in the West (37% of total), $644.0 million in the Mountain region (20%), $1,004.8 million in the Central region (32%) and $338.0 million in Energy Services (11%).[23] At year-end, the company reported 208 active aggregate sites, 135 ready-mix plants, 55 asphalt plants and 9 liquid-asphalt terminals across its footprint.[4] [4][21][22][23][23][23][23][23][23][23][23][23][23]
Business segments
Knife River reports four segments: West, Mountain, Central and Energy Services. West covers Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington; Mountain covers Idaho, Montana and Wyoming; and Central covers Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas. The three geographic segments combine aggregates, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and contracting services, including paving and heavy-civil work.[23][3]
Energy Services produces and supplies liquid asphalt and related services, primarily for asphalt road construction, across the company’s footprint. Its listed operating states are California, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.[3]
For FY2025, external-customer revenue was $1,208.713 million for West (about 38.4% of consolidated revenue), $643.842 million for Mountain (20.5%), $1,004.554 million for Central (31.9%) and $288.279 million for Energy Services (9.2%). The percentages use consolidated revenue of $3,146.012 million as the denominator; the small difference from 100% reflects other revenue and intersegment eliminations.[24] In 2025, the company combined former Pacific and Northwest segments into West and former North Central and South segments into Central, recasting prior periods to the current presentation. The four-segment structure remained in place in its Q2 2026 filing.[25][26] [23][3][24][24][24][24][24][25][26]
Company history
Founded near the Knife River in North Dakota in 1917 as Knife River Coal Mining Company, the business was acquired by Montana-Dakota Utilities in 1945 and became part of MDU Resources Group in 1985. It began expanding beyond its original operations with an aggregates acquisition in California in 1992, followed by expansion into Montana and Wyoming in 1999.[5][27]
After decades as part of MDU Resources, Knife River was spun off in 2023: MDU completed the separation on May 31, and Knife River began trading independently on the New York Stock Exchange the following day.[28][29] In 2025, the company acquired Strata Corporation, expanding its construction-materials and contracting operations in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.[30][31] [28][30][5][27][29][31]
Sources
- Knife River Corp — Full financial report (2025 Y)
- www.kniferiver.com[5]
- Knife River Corp — Full financial report (2026 Q 2)
- www.kniferiver.com[13]
- www.kniferiver.com[14]
- www.kniferiver.com[15]
- www.kniferiver.com[16]
- www.kniferiver.com[17]
- www.kniferiver.com[27]
- investors.kniferiver.com[29]
- investors.kniferiver.com[31]
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