Mid-Year Update on Chemical and Pharmaceutical Spending, a Feature on Industry Today

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Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas) will provide an update and highlights on spending trends for the first half of 2003 for the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI) and the Pharmaceutical Industry as a feature on Industry Today Monday August 11th. This special segment of Industry Today will explore the project activity identified through Industrialinfo.com's North American Project Database with insight from Annette Kreuger and Trey Hamblet, Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry Group Managers respectively, with Industrialinfo.com.

At this time last year, industry experts were not anticipating significant growth for the CPI in 2003, but many did express confidence and expect to see the industry gain some strength and be poised to begin the upward curve of its cyclical nature. War campaigns, energy costs, and many other factors kept this from coming true for many segments of the CPI. Many producer companies delayed their plans for large capital project expenditures until confidence in their markets could be recognized. Many of the factors that have plagued spending this year will continue to influence the outlook for 2004 and leave CPI companies taking a very cautious approach when forecasting spending for 2004.

In quite the opposite scenario, the Pharmaceutical Industry has been a leader in capital spending for several years and is expected to remain a leader in the coming years with growth forecast at near double digits. Spending for alliances between universities and private commercial enterprise continues to rise. In many cases, these alliances equal large grassroot construction projects, or major building additions for technical campuses and R&D lab buildings.