SUGAR LAND, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 09/21/12 -- Commodity prices have dropped off highs reached in 2011. Reports continue to stack up regarding Chinese reduction in demand and production for mined resources such as iron ore and coal. The mining boom in Australia has slowed and some of the big mining companies like Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), BHP (NYSE:BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) have announced reduction in capital expenditures as a result.

This is coming at a time when construction activity in the North American Metals & Minerals Industry is peaking. The rapid growth in activity witnessed in 2011 and 2012 has leveled off. The Metals & Minerals Industry is on track for about $35 billion in project starts in 2012 and is forecast to end the year matching or slightly less than 2011 record levels, according to Industrial Info's North American Industrial Spending Index, which tracks construction starts in 12 vertical industrial markets.

Click here to join Joe Govreau, Industrial Info's VP of Metals & Minerals Research for this edition of "Navigating the Currents of Change."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the www.industrialinfo.com "Contact Us" page.

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