New Plant Start-Ups in the Southwest Maintain Momentum During the Start of 2008

SUGAR LAND--May 16, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Fifteen new plants began some phase of commercial operation and start-up during the first four months of this year in the Southwest Market region of the United States. These plants were spread across six industries and provided an estimated 1,275 new job opportunities for the region. The first four months of 2007 had a nearly duplicate performance with 17 new plants beginning operation. Considering the number of obstacles that have risen in the market over the past year, such as the record-high prices for crude oil, volatile feedstock and natural gas costs, maintaining the level of new plant start-ups is impressive.