• Third quarter maintenance expenditures at U.S. industrial plants are expected to total more than $1.1 billion worth of spending. Research shows 433 active maintenance shutdowns, turnarounds, and outage projects scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2006 at manufacturing and electrical generating plants in the United States. Individual project values range from $1 million and go up to $20 million, with downtime lasting from a few days to as long as six weeks. Maintenance expenditures will be the highest in the Industrial Manufacturing sector with $360 million spread across 152 projects.
• At the beginning of the second quarter of 2006, the Midwest region of the United States was showing signs of significant growth in project spending when compared to the same time period of 2005. Last year, Industrial Info Resources identified 403 projects valued at over $9.4 billion scheduled for kick off during 2005. At the end of the first quarter this year, Industrial Info was tracking 436 projects valued at over $11.2 billion that are currently planned to kick off this year. The majority of investment is scheduled to occur in Minnesota, with over $3.4 billion in capital and maintenance projects planned to begin during 2006. This is followed by Missouri, which comes in second in terms of total investment dollars, at just over $3.2 billion, but leads the region in the total number of projects with 105 scheduled to kick off this year. The states of Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas all have over 50 projects each planned for this year. Total project investment in each of these states is expected to exceed $1 billion. Additional project spending is forecast to move forward in South Dakota with 13 projects representing nearly $900 million and North Dakota with 19 projects valued at over $250 million.
• The Great Lakes region of the country has always been the nation's leader in both number of operational plants, as well as capital and maintenance spending. At last report, Industrial Info Resources was tracking over $87 billion worth of active capital and maintenance projects that will begin construction in the future in the Great Lakes region. Of that enormous spending amount, 215 projects, or $33 billion, representing 38% of the overall projected spending, will take place within 20 counties in the region. The top future spending county in the region by far is Fayette County, IL, which is playing host to a quartet of future projects with a current estimated value of over $5.2 billion. In second place, there is a tie between Meigs County, OH, and Washington County, IL. Both currently have an estimated $2.1 billion worth of future project work within their county lines. Madison County, KY, finished in fourth place with planned future spending of just over $2 billion, while Wayne County, MI, rounds out the top five with future spending in excess of $1.9 billion. Business is booming in the Great Lakes region and this trend appears to remain true in the coming years.
• For the last five years, spending in North and South Carolina has been on the rise within the Industrial Manufacturing industry. Increased activity in the transportation and distribution industries is playing an important role in this rise in capital spending. To date, Industrial Info Resources is tracking almost 140 active future capital and maintenance projects, worth just under $4 billion, that are currently being planned for construction in the two states within the Industrial Manufacturing sector.
• Spending for grassroot industrial plant construction in the Rocky Mountain region is expected to double in 2007. There are an estimated 170 grassroot plants planned to begin commercial operations in the Rocky Mountain region during 2006 and 2007, with an estimated total investment value (TIV) of $17 billion. Seventy-four of these new plants are expected to come online this year, while the majority of the new plant startups are scheduled to take place in 2007. The startups during 2007 will command an overwhelming majority of the spending currently estimated at $12 billion. Of the 29 grassroot power plants planned to startup between now and the end of 2007, 14 of those are wind energy projects valued at over $1 billion dollars. The Rocky Mountain region is made up of nine states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
• The Detroit area is looking at $2.2 billion in future industrial project spending. The Detroit area began the new millennium in a bit of a spending slump, only averaging 26 projects per year, with annual capital and maintenance spending barely reaching $325 million between 2000 and 2003. However, in 2004 the spending in the area began a dramatic upswing that has remained steady right up to and through 2006. If you include the projects currently scheduled to begin construction during what remains of 2006, since 2004, the Detroit area has averaged 40 projects per year worth just under $1.2 billion. In addition, despite recent woes within the automotive industry, over $700 million worth of capital and maintenance projects are already in the planning stages for 2007. Wayne County, MI, is the home to the majority of this project work, as well as home to the majority of the operational plants in the area. The exact effect of the recently announced plant closures within the automotive industry have yet to be felt in the Detroit area, but by all appearances companies in the area are continuing to invest in their existing facilities and each month new plants are being planned.

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• Industrial Information Resources