Industrial Firms Review $464 Billion of North American Project Spending Planned for 2009

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--This is the time of year when corporations review game plans, identify targets and plan capital expenditures based on sales projections and economic conditions. Knowing what geographies and hot industrial sectors to target in 2009 will be paramount to the success of equipment and service providers as they chart a course of action for the coming year. Looking ahead to 2009, there are more than 5,200 industrial projects scheduled to begin construction. These projects total about $464 billion. This figure is forecast to decrease significantly as 2009 unfolds and projects are deferred, placed on hold or canceled.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of planned industrial project spending by North American market region in 2009.

Looking at the chart of active projects, it is easy to see that Western Canada with $69 billion, the Southwest region with $60 billion and the Great Lakes region with $57 billion are attracting the most planned spending. Oil sands, mining, and oil & gas infrastructure projects will keep Western Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Yukon Territories) head and shoulders above other regions for project spending. However, sustained low crude oil prices would make oil sands projects uneconomic in the short term, especially considering the escalating project-development costs incurred recently. Some oils sands companies have already announced spending cutbacks and delays for 2009 oil sands projects.

The Southwest market region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, remains robust and leads all regions in the number of projects scheduled for construction start in 2009, with 911 projects. That's almost three times as many projects planned in Western Canada.

Traditionally strong, the Great Lakes region, which includes Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, has 711 projects in spite of the recent downturn in the automotive market, which is prevalent in the region.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.