South Louisiana turnarounds could max out labor as capital projects ramp up

Loren Scott, economist. Photo by Don Kadair

A significant uptick in maintenance turnarounds is most definitely on the way, beginning this spring then followed by a much larger splash in October, reports 10/12 Industry Report in its Spring 2023 edition.

From a workforce perspective, it couldn’t come at a worse time. The labor forces of many industrial contractors are already maxed out and it could get a lot worse should expected capital projects crank up at the same time later this year and into 2024.

Of all of Louisiana’s metro areas, the greater Baton Rouge area has the largest volume of work about to break ground. Loren Scott, economist at Loren C. Scott & Associates in Baton Rouge, expects a spike of about 8,000 industrial workers, largely due to several impending capital projects in the chemicals and renewables sector, such as Grön Fuels in Port Allen and the retrofit of the Shell plant in Convent. Says Scott: “Baton Rouge has a host of capital projects with a 60 percent probability of breaking ground.”

Read the full story here. Read the spring digital edition of 10/12 Industry Report here.