Dow Chemical Leads All in Chemical Process Industry Capital Spending

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The top ten companies in the chemical process industry (CPI) were involved with projects totaling nearly $4.4 billion planned at over 142 different plant sites located in the United States and Canada. These figures are based on 267 planned capital and maintenance projects reported by Industrialinfo.com from 2002 to the present. Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) (Midland, Michigan) tops the list of the largest chemical process industry (CPI) spenders, developing thirty-one of these projects with a total investment value (TIV) of nearly $1.4 billion.

The CPI covers a wide spectrum of sectors; including, chlorine & alkalies, industrial gases, industrial organic & inorganic chemicals, rubber, plastic resins & fibers, soaps, detergents, cleaners, toilet preparations, paints & coatings, and agricultural chemicals to name a few.

The top spenders identified in this analysis, listed in descending order based on project total investment value (TIV) are Dow Chemical Company, BP, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, BASF, DuPont, Shell Chemical Company, Bayer Corporation, Air Products & Chemicals Incorporated, Rhodia Incorporated, and Air Liquide America Corporation. "The chemical companies that make up this list are not surprising, as most of them have led spending in the CPI for many years and represent a very significant portion of the CPI's growth each year," commented Trey Hamblet, Chemicals Group Manager, with Industrialinfo.com.

Click the image to the right to view a complete list of the top ten spenders including project counts and TIV.

Of the 267 projects originally reported, 112 projects remain active with an estimated TIV of $1.2 billion. Thirteen projects are on hold representing $1.3 billion in spending, and sixteen have been cancelled with a TIV of over $433 million. Some of the largest projects identified as still active are either in the design or construction phases; including, DuPont's BCF expansion in Ontario (PEC 13000593), Dow's plans for a major polyurethane unit addition in Georgia (PEC 17001079), Shell's debottleneck of the OL-5 olefins unit in Norco, Louisiana (PEC 02004903), and BP's NOx (nitrogen oxide) reductions at several plants in Texas as part of the states' NOx reduction mandates.

Some of the largest projects placed on hold since originally being reported were Dow Chemical's plans for a new ethylene cracker in Texas (PEC 01008776), BP's plans for a ethylbenzene-styrene monomer unit addition (PEC 01008265) and a PAO unit debottleneck (PEC 01008844), both projects planned in Texas and totaling nearly $200 million in capital. Other large projects were Bayer's plans for a major $75 million expansion of chlorine capacity in Texas (PEC 01008640) and several projects by DuPont in Texas, Illinois, and North Carolina.