Great Lakes: More than $12 Billion in Project Kickoffs in Fourth Quarter, Fueled by Natural Gas, Auto Growth

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A rapidly recovering automotive market and the benefits of natural gas growth are propelling construction projects in the U.S. Great Lakes region. The U.S. auto industry saw the strongest sales in a decade in August, and leading manufacturers are exporting more cars than ever. Industrial Info is tracking $12.08 billion in projects set to begin construction in the region from October through December, although $3 billion of that amount is attached to a project with high uncertainty. More than 75% of the total is attributed to four industries: Alternative Fuels, Power, Industrial Manufacturing, and Metals & Minerals.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing active projects scheduled to kick off in the fourth quarter of 2015 in the Great Lakes region by industry.

The Great Lakes region includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The Alternative Fuels Industry leads all others with $3.11 billion in planned project kickoffs in the fourth quarter, although almost all of that total is attributed to a long-delayed, highly uncertain proposal: Clean Coal Refining Corporation (Wilmington, Delaware) and Newport Chemical Depot Reuse Authority's (Clinton, Indiana) $3 billion construction of a coal liquefaction plant in Newport, Indiana. The project, which has wandering around the planning stages since at least 2010, has seen many proposed kickoff dates come and go; as designed, it would utilize Fischer-Tropsch Diesel technology to process 2.5 million tonnes per year of coal into 8 million barrels per day (BBL/d) of ultra-low sulfur diesel. For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Power Industry is in second place, but with a wider variety of projects, with $2.71 billion in projects set to begin construction from October through December. The largest is Pure Energy Resources LLC's (Burlington, Massachusetts) $800 million combined-cycle power plant in Lordstown, Ohio. As designed, the facility would consist of two 240-megawatt (MW) Siemens gas turbine generators, two duct-fired heat recovery steam generators, and a 320-MW Siemens condensing steam turbine. Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) is performing design-engineering services. Regulators have scheduled a final hearing next week for the proposed plant; if it passes, no other approvals will be needed from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry has an astounding 288 projects worth $2.43 billion that are set to kick off next quarter, among them General Motors Corporation's (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan) $119 million expansion of an engine components manufacturing plant in Wyoming, Michigan. GM plans to renovate 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space and install new equipment to boost its production of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac components. The expansion is expected to wrap up at the end of 2016. For details on this expansion project, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Metals & Minerals Industry is in a somewhat distant fourth place, but still boasts 37 projects worth more than $1 billion that are set to begin construction from October through December. In Kentucky, SunCoke Energy (NYSE:XSC) (Lisle, Illinois) is spending $400 million to build an 800,000-ton-per-year coke-manufacturing plant. The facility is expected to process 1.2 million tonnes per year of coal. Haverhill North Coke Company (Franklin Furnace, Ohio) and URS Corporation (Cincinnati, Ohio) are serving as contractors. The project is expected to kick off at the end of the year and to take about two years to complete. For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

The six other highest-value projects in the region are:

• $500 Million: NTE Energy's Natural Gas-Fired, Combined-Cycle Energy Center in Middletown, Ohio
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $450 Million: Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative's Natural Gas-Fired Peaking Power Station in Gaylord, Michigan
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $328 Million: Duke Energy Corporation's Pioneer Transmission Line in Indiana
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $270 Million: NiSource Incorporated's Reynolds-Topeka Transmission Line in Indiana
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $261 Million: University of Michigan's Research Center Addition in Ann Arbor, Michigan
  For details on this expansion project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $200 Million: MarkWest Energy Partners LP's Cryogenic Natural Gas-Processing Plant Addition in Cadiz, Ohio
  For details on this expansion project, see Industrial Info's project report.

More than two-thirds of the region's total investment value (TIV)--about $8.12 billion--is related to 157 projects that are now in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending. The region also has 88 projects worth about $3.44 billion in the engineering stages, while 304 projects worth $515 million already have kicked off the first stage of construction and will kick off the next in the fourth quarter.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 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.