A Solid $15.6 Billion Scheduled to Begin Construction in U.S. for Industrial Manufacturing Industry Second Quarter 2007

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). After a slow start to the year – only $10.2 billion in construction starts – the Industrial Manufacturing Industry will ramp up spending as the prime construction period begins during the second quarter of the year. Currently, Industrial Info is tracking $15.6 billion worth of projects scheduled to begin construction in April, May and June in the United States, approximately $3 billion less then the same period in 2006.

With the ground thawing in much of the country in April, the industry will start off the quarter with just over $9.2 billion worth of construction projects, or 59% of the quarter’s spending totals. May and June will follow with $2.8 billion and $3.5 billion respectively.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of planned second quarter spending by market region.

The Northeast region of the country will see the highest investment totals for the quarter at $4.3 billion, while the Great Lakes region will host the most projects (123) but at a much lower investment total – only $1.4 billion. The falloff in total spending within the Great Lakes can mainly be attributed to the recent woes within the automotive industry, where big dollar spending has declined in the region that is thought of as the homeland for North American automakers.

The Southeast region of the country will maintain a solid hold on second place in both investment totals, $3.4 billion, and total number of projects within a region with 116. Third place for investment total falls to the West Coast region at just under $2.3 billion, followed by the Southwest region with just over $2 billion for the quarter.

The top five spending states during the second quarter are New York with $4 billion, California at $1.9 billion, Texas at $1.6 billion, Georgia at $1.5 billion and Tennessee with $1.1 billion.

While spending is down from a year ago, the second quarter is still expected to post some significant investment numbers across the country. A total of 568 projects is nothing to sneeze at, and $15.6 billion is a healthy spending total for a quarter. All in all, the second quarter should end nicely for the Industrial Manufacturing Industry and as the construction season moves into the full-blown summer months, look for spending to remain solid through the fall this year.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns.