Although the year started off slowly for industrial manufacturing spending, with only $10.2 billion in construction starts, this will increase as the prime construction period begins during the second quarter of 2007.
According to research released Monday from Industrial Info Resources, $15.6 billion worth of projects, for a total of 568 projects, are planned to start construction in April, May and June in the U.S., but this is about $3 billion less then the same period for 2006.
In April, there will be approximately $9.2 billion worth of construction projects in progress, or 59% of the quarter’s spending totals, followed by $2.8 billion in May and $3.5 billion in June.
The Northeast region, at $4.3 billion, will have the most investments for the quarter, although the Great Lakes region, at 123, will have the most projects but at a lower investment rate of only $1.4 billion, the research indicates.
In second place, the Southeast region will see investment totals of $3.4 billion for 116 projects, followed by the West Coast region with about $2.3 billion and the Southwest region with approximately $2 billion.
Industrial Info notes that the top five spending states during the second quarter are New York with $4 billion, California at $1.9 billion, Texas at $1.6 billion, Georgia at $1.5 billion and Tennessee with $1.1 billion.
Construction spending for the industrial manufacturing industry should continue to be strong through the fall of 2007, predicts Industrial Info Resources.