Plant Construction Cost Indexes
Update industrial plant construction costs over time using monthly country-level indexes.
Plant Construction Cost Indexes (IC Indexes) are multipliers used to adjust the construction cost of industrial plants from one period to another. In other words, each IC Index is a monthly series that measures changes in the capital expenditure (capex) required to build a commodities manufacturing plant in a given country, helping users bring past capital-cost estimates to current or forecast periods.
IC Indexes are part of Intratec Industry Economics & Competitiveness, an annual subscription program that delivers monthly country-level reports and reference datasets for benchmarking commodities manufacturing competitiveness across 33 countries.
Using Plant Construction Cost Indexes
Adjusting a past construction cost to a current cost level takes a single multiplication.
Formula
Adjusted Cost =
Original Cost ×
IC Index [target date]
IC Index [original date]
Example — Polypropylene plant, United States
A plant built in the United States in January 2017 cost USD 350 million. Adjusting that figure to February 2025 — using the US IC Index value at each date — gives:
Adjusted Cost = USD 350M × ( 202.7 / 142.7 ) = USD 497M
Works for any of the 33 countries — every IC Index shares the same January 2000 = 100 base.
Preview Construction Cost Indexes
Each preview shows the country's IC Index as a monthly chart.
Translating Costs Across Countries — Plant Location Factors
If the IC Index moves a plant's cost forward in time within one country, Plant Location Factors (IL Factors) move it sideways across countries. Each country's report carries 32 IL Factors — one for every peer country — with the report country itself as the baseline (= 1.00). Multiplying a peer-country plant cost by the corresponding IL Factor gives the equivalent cost in the report country.
Formula
Equivalent Cost =
Reference Cost ×
IL Factor [target]
IL Factor [reference]
Example — US plant cost ported to Germany
A polypropylene plant in the United States costs USD 500 million. Germany's IL Factor is 1.13, USA's is 1.00:
Equivalent Cost = USD 500M × ( 1.13 / 1.00 ) = USD 565M
Works between any pair of the 33 countries — every IL Factor sits on the same USA = 1.00 base.
Beyond Construction Cost Indexes
Plant Construction Cost Indexes and Plant Location Factors are among the reference datasets delivered inside the Industry Economics & Competitiveness subscription — a monthly program benchmarking commodities manufacturing competitiveness across 33 countries.
33 Key Countries
Country-by-country monthly reports covering major industrial hubs — USA, China, Germany, Japan, Brazil, India, and more.
7 Industries Covered
Industry-specific rankings across olefins, aromatics, alcohols & organic acids, polymers, fertilizers, inorganic chemicals, and metals.
Reference Datasets
Country-level cost inputs for plant projects — labor costs, utility prices, construction indexes, and location factors.
Monthly Updates
Fresh data every month, always reflecting the most recent period available, with short-term forecasts on selected series.