U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry Sees $24 Billion in Projects Affected by COVID-19

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking 86 U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry projects, worth more than $24 billion, that have been put on hold, delayed, or have the potential to be otherwise affected by COVID-19. One very expensive transportation project tops the list, followed by data-center and automotive projects.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown of active U.S. Industrial Manufacturing Industry projects affected by COVID-19, by industry sector.

The most significant project impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic happens to be high-profile, both in total investment value and in nature -- Texas Central Partners' (Houston, Texas) $15 billion high-speed bullet train rail connecting Houston and Dallas. The project originally was scheduled to begin in May, but is now on hold; the kickoff has been moved to December and completion is expected March 2026, which was moved out from March 2023. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Major tech companies account for some of the highest-valued data-center projects affected by the pandemic: Google parent Alphabet Incorporated's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (Mountain View, California) estimated $1 billion Southlands Data Center expansion in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and an estimated $600 million data center in New Albany, Ohio; Facebook Incorporated's (NASDAQ:FB) (Menlo Park, California) $750 million Project Starbelt in Huntsville, Alabama; and Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) $325 million Project Osmium in West Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, see April 3, 2020, article - Phillips 66, Shell, Toyota, Facebook, Microsoft Add to List of Projects Delayed by COVID-19, and Industrial Info's reports on the Council Bluffs, New Albany, Huntsville and West Des Moines projects.

Those three industry titans certainly are well-equipped to weather the COVID-19 storm, but less prolific companies also have seen projects affected by the pandemic. Stack Infrastructure, founded in 2019, has pushed out Phase I construction of its $230 million grassroot data center building in Manassas, Virginia. Construction on the 700,000-square-foot facility was set to kick off in July, but is now planned for March 2021. Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) (Boston, Massachusetts) has placed its $52.3 million Brownfield Data Center Phase I project in Des Plaines, Illinois, on hold for the foreseeable future. Construction was planned for May of this year. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Manassas and Des Plaines projects.

Meanwhile, the automotive industry also is taking a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some big-ticket projects have been affected: Rivian Automotive Incorporated (Plymouth, Michigan) suspended a renovation at its assembly plant in Normal, Illinois, with no estimated startup date as the company plans to manufacture two electric-vehicle models. Toyota Motor Corporation's (NYSE:TM) (Tokyo, Japan) $115 million expansion at its engine and transmission manufacturing plant in Buffalo, West Virginia, has been delayed, with kickoff moved from April to May; the scheduled completion date was pushed out from December to March 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Normal and Buffalo projects.

The automotive industry is on hold like many others, but that hasn't prevented manufacturers from working to create valuable products for managing the global pandemic. "Ford, GM and Toyota are all producing, or will be producing shortly, critical supplies such as ventilators, masks and face shields," said David Pickering, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Industrial Manufacturing Industry. "They have been converting existing plants to produce these products, or in the case of GM, retooling formerly closed plants (plants that closed prior to the pandemic), to handle the product production."

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Detroit, Michigan) is converting an automotive assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, to produce respirators for medical personnel to wear while treating infected patients. Ford is also set to launch a new ventilator operation with GE on April 20. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info'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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.