Industrial Construction in Harris County Slows Slightly in 2006 to $1.5 Billion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Capital and maintenance spending at industrial plants in Harris County, Texas is down slightly from 2005 figures, however, there is still a healthy amount of project activity on the books with 83 projects worth $1.5 billion scheduled to begin construction in 2006. Looking beyond 2006, there are 56 projects, totaling $1.9 billion, scheduled.

In 2005, there were 96 projects totaling $1.8 billion scheduled to begin construction in 2005. Taking a look back at what actually happened to those projects, fifteen projects, totaling $447.5 million, were deferred or delayed to 2006 and 2007 construction start dates. Nine projects, totaling $81 million, were cancelled or put on hold. The remaining projects were either completed or are still active. In addition to 2005's $1.8 billion in spending, there were 55 projects, totaling $2.6 billion, scheduled beyond 2005.

Looking at the Gap Measurement, project fallout for 2006 shows that about 25% of the original planned projects have been cancelled or put on-hold since first reported. This is down slightly from 2005’s project fallout of 28%.

Click on the image at right to view the Gap Measurement Analysis for Harris County.

When comparing this year’s numbers to those taken at the end of the first quarter of 2005, there is a 16% decrease in year on year project spending, from $1.8 billion to $1.5 billion. In addition, there is a larger decrease (25%) in planned future project spending since the end of the first quarter of 2005.

Why the decline? It can be attributed to several big-ticket projects reaching the construction stage, such as the $450 million Shoal Point Container Terminal that the Port of Houston Authority is constructing in Bayport, Texas. Construction of the terminal is nearing completion. This project, combined with other large projects that were either constructed in 2005 or cancelled, such as Introgen’s (Austin, Texas) commercial-scale biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant that was completed last year and a $250 million cogen in Deer Park, Texas, which was cancelled, and the lack of new large scale project development to take their place contributed to a decline this year.

Harris County, Texas is host to one of the largest concentrations of industrial plants in the world, with 431 major operational sites, the majority of which are located along the Houston Ship Channel. Click on the image at right for details on our Houston Ship Channel Wall Map, which includes greater Harris County. For more information on industrial plants in Harris County contact Industrial Info’s Member Center at 1-800-762-3361.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.