Pharma-Bio Sector Kicks Off Year with $4.2 Billion in First-Quarter 2013 Capital/MRO Project Starts

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Virtually every corner of North America will house a portion of $4.2 billion in capital and maintenance (MRO) projects for the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry in first-quarter 2013. A recent survey taken from Industrial Info''s Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database forecasts 145 projects with a cumulative total investment value (TIV) of $4.2 billion that are ready to begin construction during the quarter.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing pharmaceutical-biotech capital/MRO projects that are set to begin construction in first-quarter 2013..

The projects are scattered throughout the North America, and carry an impressive average value of $29 million. The 2013 numbers translate to a whopping 40% increase over the same time frame last year, when $3 billion was invested to start 108 projects.

From a regional standpoint, the Southeast soundly claims first place with 24 projects representing $1.6 billion. One project is responsible for boosting the region to the top: the $1 billion being invested by Baxter International Corporation (NYSE:BAX) (Deerfield, Illinois) to build an approximately 1 million-square-foot plasma fractionation facility with purification and fill/finish suites, equipped for the manufacturing of up to 3 million liters of blood plasma-based therapeutics. Initially operating under the code name "Project Marathon" during negotiations, the company brokered a deal to receive $210 million worth of incentives from the state for the project, which is to be built with the 1,600-acre Stanton Springs development in Covington, Georgia.

Next up is the Northeast, with a respectable $807 million invested in 20 first-quarter 2013 project starts. Leading the way is Merck & Company''s (NYSE:MRK) ambitious ongoing upgrade program at its West Point site in New Jersey. The company has $300 million remaining from a $500 million multi-year services contract with Integrated Project Services Incorporated (Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania) for a series of projects to update, expand and refine the massive vaccine campus.

As always, the Great Lakes region is near the top for industry spending. The region rounds out the top three with $501 million divided among 25 project starts. Nantworks LLC (Los Angeles, California) tops the list with its $125 million plan to renovate a former Pfizer Incorporated (NYSE:PFE) building to initiate aseptic production of pre-filled syringes. The company will bring syringes to the site, fill them with product and then ship.

A number of the first-quarter 2013 projects already have begun construction, or in the case of MRO projects lasting a week or two, are already complete. As for the rest, there remains the possibility that a number of these projects will be delayed, put on hold, or canceled. The individual status of each of the 145 projects will be carefully monitored for changes. The majority, or 108, of the forecasted projects for the quarter are for capital expenditures (i.e. grassroot plants, additions, upgrades) with a TIV of $4.1 billion, and the remaining 60 are for scheduled maintenance programs, with a combined TIV of $77 million.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info''s quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what''s happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.