North American spending for the industrial manufacturing industry almost doubled in 2005, when compared to 2004, according to Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Inc. Houston, TX). IIR projects 2006 spending to continue to increase, although not in such a dramatic way. As of mid-January, IIR was tracking industrial manufacturing projects worth in excess of $47.6 billion that are scheduled to begin construction in 2006. This is an increase of $7.5 billion, or 18%, over 2005's total spending at year's end.

North American spending for the industrial manufacturing industry almost doubled in 2005, when compared to 2004, according to Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Inc. Houston, TX). IIR projects 2006 spending to continue to increase, although not in such a dramatic way. As of mid-January, IIR was tracking industrial manufacturing projects worth in excess of $47.6 billion that are scheduled to begin construction in 2006. This is an increase of $7.5 billion, or 18%, over 2005's total spending at year's end.

Here are some regional and industry snapshots of 2006 project plans, according to IIR. Totals include maintenance and capital projects in various stages of development from the early planning to the advanced engineering stages, with total investment values (TIV) of at least $1 million scheduled to begin construction in 2006.

  • The Southwest region, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas, is the leader going into 2006 with 827 projects totaling more than $27.5 billion.

  • A close second on the list is the Great Lakes region with 890 projects worth $27 billion. Typically, Ohio and Illinois are the big money states in the region. This will hold true once again in 2006. However, in 2005, Michigan and Kentucky experienced significant spending increases for industrial projects of $5.4 billion and $6.5 billion respectively, equaling the activity of Ohio and Illinois. For 2006, the majority of the planned expenditures for industrial projects show Illinois and Ohio far exceeding expenditures in any other state in the region. Indiana and Wisconsin are showing modest drops in spending.

  • IIR foresees a dramatic 37% increase in activity for the Mid-Atlantic region, which increased from 464 projects totaling $19 billion up to 509 projects totaling $26 billion. The Mid-Atlantic region consists of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

  • The Northeast region has166 plants currently being tracked and the region's four states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania anticipate over $6 billion in investment. New York won the biggest share of the year's new plants with 53 sites currently in planning, engineering or under construction in the Empire State. Pennsylvania isn't far behind with plans for 37, followed by New Jersey's eighteen.

  • For 2006, the Rocky Mountain region, which includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming is home to 283 industrial projects totaling more than $22 billion. Arizona leads all states in project development for 2006 with $6.3 billion planned across 53 projects. After Arizona comes New Mexico, which has $4.7 billion projects planned from 35 projects. Wyoming has 50 projects scheduled to begin construction in 2006.

  • The Southeast region has the largest decline in project spending activity, 18%. IIR pegs 632 projects totaling $20.2 billion in 2005 to 637 projects totaling $16.5 billion in 2006. The Southeast region includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

  • The Midwest region shows over 300 projects exceeding $12 billion TIV with potential kickoff dates during 2006. This is a significant decrease in forecasted capital spending compared with $15.3 billion spread out over 331 projects forecasted for 2005. Total capital project spending decreased substantially for the region as the year progressed due to project cancellations, on hold activity and other delays. An update revealed 421 projects valued at over $8.6 billion moved forward in 2005. The Midwest region is made up by the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

  • The Gulf Coast Region is home to over 2,400 industrial plants, of which approximately 680 are energy producers of some kind. These plants represent only a little more than a quarter of the total regional industrial plant population although they are forecast to spend a majority or 90% of the total $15.2 billion in active projects currently identified to begin construction in 2006. Over $13.8 billion is planned to be spent regionally in the energy sector represented by power generation plants and oil and gas industries including terminals, production and transmission. Although these industries represent an overwhelming majority of the total regional spending, the total number of projects is only one quarter of the total project activity and boasts an average TIV that exceeds $100 million per project.