American Manufacturing, Re-energized
July 13, 2016
Think the days of U.S. manufacturing are numbered and that our nation's economy is becoming so-called service-based? Not so fast. In fact, U.S. manufacturing has been at the forefront of the nation's economic recovery with strong growth in output and employment, and a large part of the reason is an abundance of low-cost natural gas due to America's shale revolution.
Thanks to the power of innovative fracking technology and an abundance of shale gas, the United States has the lowest natural gas prices in the world, giving our energy-intensive industries a global cost advantage. In May, U.S. natural gas prices of less than $2 per mmbtus (only $1.78 in some markets) were less than half of gas prices in Europe ($4.30); Asia and India ($4.50); and South America ($4.75).
The impact of the shale revolution is profound because the economic growth it continues to produce is not confined to any single region of the U.S. Cheap natural gas is strengthening energy security across the country and is fueling a resurgence in manufacturing - particularly the most energy-intensive industrial products, such as iron and steel, bulk chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, cement, petroleum refining, glass, paper and food products...