Engineering & Construction.(global activity)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)

Chemical Week, May, 2001 by ALPEROWICZ, NATASHA; D'AMICO, ESTHER; WESTERVELT, ROBERT

Still a Buyers' Market

SOME ENGINEERING AND construction (E&C) companies say they have begun to recover from the difficult period of the past six years in which too many competitors were chasing too few contracts. The recent spate of M&A activity among E&C companies has helped improve the competitive bidding situation, although several acquired firms have had difficulty completing projects.

U.S. firms in particular expect that higher oil prices and an increase in demand for cogen plants and power modernization projects, the latter a result of energy problems in California, will significantly boost growth this year. The major concern is that the slowdown in the U.S. economy will lead to a further reduction in manufacturers' capital spending plans...

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