Report: La. industrial spending to top $30B in 2012

More than $30 billion worth of industrial projects are expected to break ground in Louisiana in the coming year, according to a report by Industrial Info Resources, a Sugar Land, Texas-based provider of global industrial market data. Industrial Info Resources will present a preview of its 2012 North American industrial spending and job creation report at 4 p.m. Wednesday at White Oak Plantation, 17660 George O’Neal Road. The preview will focus particularly on industrial spending in Gulf Coast states, including Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. Combined, $197 billion worth of industrial projects is expected to get under way across the five states in 2012, with $117.3 billion being spent in Texas alone. Florida is expected to see the second-highest spending activity at $33.3 billion, followed by Louisiana at $30.3 billion, Mississippi at $8.6 billion and Alabama at $7.6 billion. The total is significantly more than the $75 billion in projects Industrial Info Resources predicted would break ground in the states during 2011. “In any given year, a certain portion of projects will not start according to schedule,” says Michael Bergen, Industrial Info Resources spokesman. “That said, we see 2012 as a more economically vibrant year for the Gulf Coast than 2011 or 2010.”