What’s Hot in the U.S. Metals & Minerals Industry in 2006

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Since the beginning of 2006, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) has reported on 403 major Metals & Minerals Industry projects located in the U.S. These projects represent more than $13 billion in total investment value.

Click on the image at right to view a breakdown of reported projects by Metals & Minerals Industry Sector

Steel manufacturing is the hottest sector within the Metals & Minerals Industry, representing 25% of the projects reported and 34% of the proposed spending, with 110 projects worth $4.5 billion. One of the larger more ambitious projects in the steel sector includes Minnesota Steel’s $1.6 billion mine-mouth iron ore mine and steel mill complex in Minnesota. The project just received support from the state of Minnesota in the form of $23 million in infrastructure funding, which will be used to construct a natural gas pipeline and rail services to the plant site at the old Butler taconite mine. The project is scheduled to receive a final environmental impact statement during the first quarter of 2007 and must secure financing before it can move forward.

After steel comes mining as the most active industry. This includes 20 coal mining projects worth $1.5 billion, nine gold mining projects worth $477 million, three copper ore mining projects worth $750 million and fifteen other mining projects worth $3.3 billion.

Cement manufacturing is hot this year as almost every U.S. cement maker is operating at capacity and making profits due to rising cement prices. The U.S. imports in excess of 20% of its cement needs. In an attempt to keep up with demand, a large number of new plant projects and expansions at existing plants are under development. So far this year, Industrial Info has reported on 60 cement manufacturing projects, representing $1.8 billion in project spending.

For details on the projects mentioned in this report, contact Industrial Info's Member Center at 1-800-762-3361.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.