Projects Under Construction Top $28 Billion Within U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Throughout the course of the recession that has been hammering the United States and the rest of the world since December of 2007, the Industrial Manufacturing Industry has faced severe problems within many of its sectors. In particular, the automotive sector has been hit hard by the recession and the accompanying problems with automotive sales and the housing market. Yet, despite all sectors' struggling to keep plants open, workers employed and companies from falling into bankruptcy, significant construction activity has continued to take place. Currently, Industrial Info Resources is tracking just under 200 active capital projects worth an estimated $28.5 billion within the U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry that are actively under construction.

Click on image at right for a regional breakdown of active capital projects under construction in the Industrial Manufacturing Industry in the U.S.

While the project activity has covered the breadth of the country with no single region taking a significantly higher number of projects, certain areas are reaping more benefits in terms of the money being spent. Currently, the Rocky Mountains region of the country has the largest capital investment with nine projects worth $6 billion. This large investment value can be attributed to the nature of the projects that have reached the construction stage. In the case of the Rocky Mountains region, there are four significant projects driving this spending: two semiconductor-related projects in Arizona and New Mexico and two light-rail projects in Utah. These four projects account for $5.9 billion of the just over $6 billion in projects that are under construction in the region.

However, several other regions also have a significant amount of investment as well as a larger number of actual projects under construction. The Northeast region of the country is comfortably in second place in terms of total capital investment, with $5.2 billion worth of project activity in the form of 29 projects. The West Coast region follows in third place with 27 projects worth an estimated $4.2 billion, while the Southeast and Southwest regions round out the top five spending regions with $3.8 billion (30 projects) and $3.1 billion (21 projects), respectively.

The projects that are driving this large spending effort, besides the aforementioned four Rocky Mountains projects, cover a number of sectors within the industry. Rail projects, including freight, light and commuter rail, account for 87 of the 197 projects under construction, as well as $12 billion in total spending. Despite well publicized woes, the automotive sector has several projects in the construction stage as well. Additionally, there are distribution centers, port expansions, heavy-manufacturing plant expansions, tire plant expansions, new commercial printing plants, university projects, solar panel plants and many other types of facilities involved in this spending, indicating that while every sector is suffering, companies are still willing to invest in the future.

Some of the key projects currently under construction include a $3.8 billion subway expansion in New York, a $1.2 billion commuter rail corridor expansion in Texas, a $1.2 billion automotive assembly plant in Georgia, a $400 million diesel-engine manufacturing plant in Mississippi, a $280 million steam and gas turbine manufacturing plant expansion in Tennessee, and a $250 million Naval yard terminal expansion in South Carolina.

This kind of active construction spending is very encouraging during these tough times. While many of these are projects that take years to construct and may well have begun construction before the recession began, the fact that they have continued construction and have not suffered financing problems during these tough times is a good sign. The bottom line is that, although each sector is facing its own unique set of problems, spending remains strong. Judging by the projects expected to begin construction in the latter half of 2009 and 2010, spending will continue to remain strong throughout the recovery period.

View Plant Profile - 1067142 1018255 1070302 1048914 1068884 1073098 1500872 1015019
View Project Report - 43000781 42000664 44000507 44000537 14003244 01007942 17002244 03002886 25002380 16001266

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.