Northeast Region 2010 Industrial Investment Review: $8 Billion Launches 402 Projects

---

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--It's a wrap for 2010, and the Northeast region can look back on the successful launch of almost $8 billion in capital and maintenance (MRO) projects during the year. A recent survey taken from Industrial Info's PECWEB Direct revealed that 401 projects with a cumulative total investment value (TIV) of $7.8 billion began construction in the region in 2010. The projects are scattered throughout the region, which comprises Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and have an average TIV of $20 million.

Click on image at right for the top 25 projects in the U.S. Northeast region in 2010.

The stats for 2010 pale in comparison to the 2009 figures. An analysis of project starts in the region for 2009 reveals an astounding $15.8 billion was invested in 393 projects. Factors for the huge disparity in spending--a 92% drop--include the economic meltdown really coming to town in 2010 and a number of mega-projects that began construction in 2009. The latter is actually the major cause for the disparity in numbers.

The single largest project helping the 2009 figures was the midyear start of a $4.2 billion semiconductor plant. Global Foundries Incorporated (Sunnyvale, California) is building the plant in Saratoga Springs, New York, with project team members M+W Zander (Marlborough, Massachusetts) and Delaney Construction (Mayfield, New York). The 1.3 million-square-foot plant will have the capacity to produce 300 million silicon wafers when it opens in 2012.

Much to the chagrin of economic developers, a project of this magnitude does not happen every quarter, year or decade; when it does, it skews the numbers. Another project helping boost the figures for 2009 was the start the $1.6 billion Allegheny Ludlum project to build a specialty steel 84-inch hot strip mill in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. With Canonsburg, Pennsylvania office of Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) on board as the design/build firm, the project should be completed in 2014.

With a clearer perspective of the 2009 numbers, 2010 can be better appreciated as a solid year, despite the economy. In terms of geography, Pennsylvania closed out 2010 at the top, garnering nearly 50 % of the spending in the Northeast, with $4.2 billion invested in 189 projects. The largest of the state's 2010 project starts was Talisman Energy's (NYSE:TLM) $850 million Marcellus Shale drilling program in Bradford and Tigoa counties. Plans call for 170 new wells to be added to the site.

New York placed a rather distant second in 2010 project spending, with 124 projects valued at $1.9 billion beginning construction. Of these projects, the largest is a $250 million, 1,259-megawatt (MW) nuclear project by Constellation Generation Group LLC in Lycoming, New York. Project team members include GE Nuclear Energy Products (Wilmington, North Carolina) and Hitachi Power Systems America (Basking Ridge, New Jersey).

From an industry standpoint, the Power Industry emerged as the top dog in 2010, with almost $3 billion invested into 77 project starts for 2010. Oil & Gas Production was a distant second, with eight projects valued at $1.2 billion getting under way last year. The remaining projects were sourced from a variety of industries, including the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry (52 projects worth a total of $987 million, according to Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical-Biotech Tracker - Online Database) and the Food & Beverage Industry (46 projects worth a total of $649 million).

The Northeast currently has nearly 3,700 operational industrial plants. The region represents a wide variety of industrial plants, with the Food & Beverage and Industrial Manufacturing plants responsible for more than 1,475 locations. The Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry has more than 370 facilities in the region, including both manufacturing plants and research centers. Other sites in the region include approximately 390 chemical plants, 30 major petroleum refineries and nearly 500 Metals & Minerals Industry plants. Key information regarding these facilities is included within Industrial Info Resources' Northeast Region Online Plant Directory.

View Plant Profile - 1069773 1502474 1514373 1080852
View Project Report - 14003203 12001946 14003513 12004929

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR'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.