U.S. Metals & Minerals Industry Began Construction on $32.7 Billion of Projects in 2014

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Metals & Minerals Industry experienced flat growth of just 0.28% in 2014, when comparing the value of construction starts versus 2013. In 2013, $32.65 billion worth of projects started construction, compared with $32.74 billion in 2014, according to Industrial Info's North American Project Spending Index, which analyzes year-over-year project starts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The U.S. was the bright spot in North America in 2014, with 16% growth offsetting declines in both Canada, which experienced a decline in project starts of 3.91%, and Mexico, which saw a 24.39% decline. Canada and Mexico both rely heavily on mining projects, which took a hit in 2014 due to declining metal commodity prices.

Strong steel and aluminum sector project starts led the way for Metals & Minerals construction starts in 2014. Projects like the $1.85 billion steel mill being built by Tenaris Tubular Technologies and Exiros USA in Bay City, Texas, started construction in 2014. The project would produce piping products for the Oil & Gas Industry. Due to the downturn in the oil & gas market, the project is now being reevaluated by the project owners and could be postponed if the market dictates.

The Southwest region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, continued to shine in 2014, as it was the largest region in the U.S. for the Metals & Minerals Industry, accounting for about 38% of the value of project starts. The value of projects starting construction in 2014 increased more than 30% from 2013. Other regions experiencing growth in 2014 were the Great Lakes and the Northeast. Those that declined included the Rocky Mountains region, which was hit by declining mining projects.

The North American Project Spending Index is a monthly indicator comparing the total investment value of the current year to the previous year, based on actual project construction starts, in order to get a measure of growth or contraction in the industrial market.

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