U.S. Southeast Home to More than $10 Billion in Project Starts in Second-Quarter 2015

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The business-friendly climate of the U.S. Southeast is making it one of the nation's strongest areas for investment--not just for manufacturing, but also for energy-related industries to support the growth. Second-quarter construction kickoffs in the region total $10.06 billion in investment value, according to Industrial Info's project database, with two-thirds of the amount attributed to three industries: Oil & Gas Production, Power and Industrial Manufacturing.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing active projects scheduled to kick off in the second quarter of 2015 in the U.S. Southeast by industry.

The Southeast region includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

As in the Southwest region, the Oil & Gas Production Industry leads all other industries in spending, with more than $3.1 billion worth set to kick off in the second quarter of 2015. One of the largest is Denbury Resources Incorporated's (NYSE:DNR) (Plano, Texas) $600 million expansion of a crude-oil production field near Citronelle, Alabama. The project involves drilling more than 400 new production and injection wells and constructing a production-gathering system, CO2 re-compressor station, and separation and storage battery systems. Upon completion, facilities will be better able to access an estimated reserve of 26 million barrels. The project is expected to be completed toward the middle of 2018.

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry follows with more than $2.7 billion in projects slated to begin construction before the end of June, with more than half of that amount attributed to Florida's $1.5 billion, Phase II construction of a passenger rail project that will run from Miami to Orlando. The 40-mile second phase, which will run parallel to State road 528, will involve the construction of a vehicle-maintenance facility and an intermodal terminal facility at the Orlando Airport. When completed, the entire rail system is expected to stretch 235 miles and carry 32 trains per day.

The Power Industry takes the bronze with $873 million in projects preparing for construction, including Constellation Energy Group's (Baltimore, Maryland) $220 million construction of a biomass cogeneration facility in Albany, Georgia. The 42-megawatt (MW), biomass-fired station is to consist of a General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) steam turbine generator set, or equivalent, with a circulating fluidized-bed boiler. DCO Energy LLC (Mays Landing, New Jersey) is performing engineering, procurement and construction services for the project, which is set to be completed toward the middle of 2017. Constellation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) (Chicago, Illinois).

The largest project from all other industries is BlueFire Renewables Incorporated's (Irvine, California) much-delayed, $400 million cellulosic ethanol plant and pellet mill in Fulton, Mississippi. The facility is designed to produce 9 million gallons per year of ethanol from biomass feedstocks , while the pellet mill is expected to have a capacity of 400,000 tons per year. Although BlueFire completed site preparation work in mid-2011, and Century Construction (Richmond, Virginia) completed the civil work in February 2011, but the company has faced numerous hurdles and delays in obtaining federal loans and other necessities.

Almost three-quarters of the region's total investment value (TIV)--more than $7 billion--is related to 93 projects that are now in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending. The region also has 76 projects worth about $2.8 billion in the engineering stages, while 94 projects worth about $189 million already have kicked off the first stage of construction and will kick off the second in the fourth quarter.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 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.