West Coast to See $12.3 Bil. in Ind. Projects

There are 391 active industrial projects in the West Coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington with scheduled construction kickoff dates in 2006, according to a report by market research firm Industrial Info Resources (www.industrialinfo.com). The projects represent over $12.3 billion in capital and maintenance expenditures. Industrial Info says capital projects range from grassroot construction to upgrades and expansions of existing plants to maintenance shutdowns.

Compared to Industrial Info’s mid-year 2005 analysis of projects scheduled to begin construction in 2005, both the number of projects and total investment value (TIV) have increased in 2006. Ninety projects have been marked cancelled totaling a surprising $8.7 billion, however, Industrial Info says it should be noted that $3.6 billion came from the volatile power industry on the West Coast and $2.6 billion from the industrial manufacturing group. Fallout in other industries only totaled $2.4 billion in capital dollars.

Some of the larger investments include light rail projects in California and Washington (Los Angeles County Metro Trans Authority – $899 Million; Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority – $850 million; and Spokane Transit Authority – $500 million), a huge $600 million polysilicon manufacturing plant planned by REC Solar Grade Silicon in Moses Lake, Washington and a $350 million deep water crude oil terminal planned by Pacific Energy Partners in California.

Looking at spending by industry, Industrial Manufacturing leads the way with $4.6 billion followed by Power ($2.1 billion); Pharmaceutical & Biotech ($1.6 billion); Metals & Minerals ($1.4 billion); Food & Beverage ($845 million); Petroleum Refining ($794 million); Terminals ($396 million); Transmission ($262 million); Pulp and Paper ($350 million); Syn Fuels ($210 million); Oil & Gas Production ($131 million) and Chemical Processing ($66 Million).