Over $8 Billion in New Plant Construction Concludes During the First Five Months of 2004

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). For the first five months of 2004, 104 new industrial plants came online, to bring an estimated 9,600 employment opportunities to the U.S. industrial market. These plants represented approximately $8.2 billion in initial construction that had taken place over the last few years, as they were being built.

As the U.S. struggles with a large number of plant closings occurring each year, new plant activity is helping to relieve the blow. From January through May of this year, 185 plants have closed due to economic reasons, consolidation, or obsolescence. The 185 closed plants found through the research of Industrialinfo.com, represented approximately 30,280 jobs to the U.S. industrial market.

While 104 new plants represent a move in the right direction for recovery, during the same time period in 2003, 163 new plants came online. The drop in new plant activity came from industries such as Electric Power Generation, Industrial Manufacturing (Durable & Non-Durable Goods), and Food & Beverage. However, an increase did emerge from two industries, namely Pharmaceutical & Biotech and by Synthetic Fuels, specifically Ethanol and Biodiesel, plant construction.

Click on the image at right to view the U.S. Plant Start-Ups 2004 Analysis.

The power industry continues to remain a strong spender. Close to $6 billion of new plant construction was represented in the twenty new plants that came online this year. A number of massive power plants have been underway since the boom in 1999, and while the activity seems to be slowing down, the industry still represents a staggering $20 billion in new construction activity that is anticipated for construction in 2004.

In analyzing the location of these plants by state, Texas led the way with the greatest number of new plants coming online during the first part of the year. The state of Alabama brought the highest amount of new employment opportunities, with approximately 1,000 jobs. One plant in particular created 250 jobs for Alabama, a large, $300 million tissue plant for SCA Tissue North America, which came online in January 2004. Industrialinfo.com first reported the project in June of 2002, when the company had just finalized its location in Alabama.

Click on the image at right to view the New Plant Summary Report.

From a regional analysis, the Great Lakes region accounted for the most new plant activity, with twenty new locations making up 19.2% of the total. The Mid-Atlantic region followed with sixteen new plant start-ups, accounting for 15.4% of new construction. Most of the plants in these two regions came from the Industrial Manufacturing and Food & Beverage sectors.

Looking into the near future, approximately 102 new plants are scheduled to come online during the second half of 2004. The Industrial Manufacturing industry, together with the Food & Beverage, and Pharmaceutical & Biotech industries, will make up 63.7% of the remaining new plant construction for the year. It is estimated that by the end of 2004 approximately 200 new plants will come online for the year, resulting in an estimated 20,000 new jobs.