South Carolina Leads Mid-Atlantic Region with $29.4 Billion for Future Industrial Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With $29.4 billion of industrial projects scheduled to begin construction in 2009 or beyond, South Carolina has jumped ahead of North Carolina ($26.2 billion) and Maryland ($21.4 billion) as the state with the greatest amount of project activity in the Mid-Atlantic Region. In addition to these three states the Mid-Atlantic region includes the District of Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia. Currently, the Mid-Atlantic Region is the third largest market in the U.S. for industrial project development after the Great Lakes and Southwest regions.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of project spending by state for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Of the $29.4 billion, only 7.8%, or $2.3 billion of projects in South Carolina are scheduled to begin construction this year. The remaining, majority amount is scheduled to kick-off in 2010 and beyond. One of those projects is a massive nuclear power plant expansion. South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, a subsidiary of SCANA Corporation (NYSE:SCG) (Columbia, South Carolina), is planning a $15 billion expansion of the Virgil C Summer Nuclear Power Station in Jenkinsville, South Carolina, that will entail the construction of two 1,100-megawatt units. Construction will not begin until 2011 at the earliest.

In addition to planned project development, South Carolina leads the region in projects currently under construction with 32 projects totaling $8 billion. In October 2008, Horsehead Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Horsehead Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:ZINC) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) began construction of an $80 million plant, which will recycle electric arc furnace (EAF) dust into zinc metal and zinc oxide. EAF dust is a byproduct waste material from recycled steel manufacturing operations. It is considered a hazardous waste by the EPA and must be disposed of properly in a landfill or recycled. Because of the poor market conditions in the U.S. steel industry, which is operating at less than 50% capacity utilization, Horsehead has slowed construction activity at the site and has implemented a cost savings strategy by taking over part of the general contracting responsibilities. This will delay start-up for the first kiln at the plant until March 2010. A second kiln will commence operation in 2011.

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