More than $15 Billion in U.S. Manufacturing Project Starts Planned for Second Quarter as Industry Maintains Growth Pattern

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Manufacturing activities in the U.S. have continued to advance despite lingering challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Institute of Supply Management's (ISM) (Tempe, Arizona) latest Report on Business.

The ISM's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which tracks 18 industry sectors in the U.S, indicated economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in April, with the overall economy registering its 11th consecutive month of growth. Still, the PMI of 60.7% was down by 4 percentage points from the reading in March.

Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM's Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said companies and suppliers "continue to struggle to meet increasing rates of demand due to coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts limiting availability of parts and materials. Recent record-long lead times, wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products are continuing to affect all segments of the manufacturing economy. Worker absenteeism, short-term shutdowns due to part shortages, and difficulties in filling open positions continue to be issues that limit manufacturing-growth potential."

Among other things, the report's respondents noted that the global electronics/semiconductor shortage was having an impact on lead times and pricing. For related information, see April 12, 2021, article - Microchip Shortage Causes Production Problems, Price Increases.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's April Beige Book on economic activity said that despite widespread supply chain disruptions, manufacturing activity expanded further, with half the reserve districts citing robust growth.

The U.S. manufacturing climate is reflected in the level of planned second-quarter project starts.

Industrial Info is tracking more than 300 Industrial Manufacturing capital projects, worth more than $15 billion, that are planned to start construction this quarter in the U.S.

By market region, the Great Lakes, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, leads with nearly 80 projects worth almost $3.3 billion.

Click on the image at right for a graph showing second-quarter Industrial Manufacturing project starts by U.S. market region.

The largest project in the Great Lakes region is the Chicago Transit Authority's $1.2 billion Lawrence-to-Bryn-Mawr modernization, part of the planned Phase I modernization on the Red and Purple lines on the city's metropolitan rail network. The project includes rebuilding four stations with wider platforms and elevators, along with new track, bridges and viaducts, on a 1.3-mile stretch of track to improve service and add accessibility according to the American with Disabilities Act. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for the project report.

By sector, data centers lead in U.S. second-quarter construction starts, with 21 projects worth nearly $4.4 billion. The priciest of these is a $1 billion Phase I data center in Mesa, Arizona by NTT Global Data Centers, a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (Tokyo, Japan). The first phase is part of a seven-phase, 1.5 million-square-foot data center campus project valued at $7 billion. Completion is expected in May 2022. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, 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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.