The Chemical Processing Industry Can Expect Only Marginal Improvements for Grassroot Plant Startups in 2004

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Industrialinfo.com is currently tracking 40 grassroot chemical plants planned for startup in 2004. Twenty of those plants are already under construction, with another sixteen in the engineering phase with construction expected to begin soon. This could mark a significant improvement over last year, when Industrialinfo.com identified 23 grassroot plant startups for 2003, down drastically from 37 grassroot plant startups in 2002.

The first quarter of this year will be busy for the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI), as 15 of these new plants are expected to come online. Grassroot plant startups will slow slightly in the second and third quarters with the fourth quarter ending with an estimated 10 plant startups. "If a majority of these plants stay on schedule and come online as planned in 2004, showing an improvement over 2003, this would surely provide some renewed confidence that the CPI is recovering from its poor performance of the last year or more," commented Trey Hamblet, Chemicals Group Manager with Industrialinfo.com.

Click the image to the right to view an analysis of 2004 Grassroot Plant Startups by State and SIC Code plus a summary of the 2003 Grassroot Plant Startup Results.

In an IIR Industry Alert released in July of 2003 titled Planned Grassroot Construction for the North American Chemical Industry Forecast to Slow in 2004, Industrialinfo.com reported that the number of grassroot plant construction starts scheduled for 2004 was substantially off its mark, in comparison to previous years. On a positive note, the highest number of construction starts is expected during the first half of the year, increasing the odds for completion of construction and startup by the year's end.

Surprisingly, California leads with the largest number of chemical plant startups for 2004 with six plants employing an estimated 270 people. Texas will offer the largest number of new jobs employing 370 people from just four grassroot plants. The plastics and resins business has continued to improve through 2003 and that trend will continue to strengthen this year with seven new plant startups, the largest number of startups over all other CPI business groups.