Grassroot industrial plant construction in North America continues to experience explosive growth. Referring to plants being constructed from the ground up with no previous site improvements, grassroot plant construction begins with groundbreaking or civil/site preparation activities and ends with commissioning, which marks the start of plant operations. The total investment value of grassroot industrial plants currently under construction in North America in 2008 exceeds $181 billion. By country, 881 grassroot plants, or 71 percent of the total, are under construction in the U.S., representing $129 billion. The remaining 150 grassroot plants representing more than $51 billion are under construction in Canada.
Contrary to the current down-trending economic news, business activity has not slowed for the industrial construction industry. In fact, 2008 is exceeding 2007, a banner year, which saw grassroot plant construction in the U.S. grow from $60 billion in 2006 to $88 billion in 2007. Since 2006, grassroot industrial plant construction activity has doubled in 2008 up to $181 billion. See related August 10, 2007, news article - Grassroot U.S. Industrial Plant Construction Increases 33 percent in 2007. There are more than 1,000 grassroot industrial plants being constructed right now in the U.S. and Canada up from 656 plants last year.
A look at the top 10 states/provinces for grassroot plant construction shows Alberta as No. 1 on the list with 62 plants under construction representing almost $32 billion. Alberta's rich oil sands deposits are generating a record amount of construction for oil production, mining, upgrading/refining, transmission, storage and energy facilities. In the U.S., the top state is Texas with 95 grassroot plants representing $20 billion under construction.
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