Plant cost data for budgeting

'Dear Sir,

First of all let me compliment your efforts of giving readers updates on cost-capacity relationships for various chemical plants.

I would appreciate you elaborating on plant cost. Are the following items included in plant cost: (a) equipment, piping, electrical instrumentation, along with installation, insulation painting, etc: (b) building and civil works; (c) know how fees and engineering fees? Or only item (a)? It goes without saying that the plant cost is for the battery limit plant.'

* Costimator replies that all of the items mentioned above are included in his correlations and that the costs shown are generally for green-field, turnkey, battery-limits plants. Of course, obtaining accurate data of this kind is very difficult because such information is usually regarded as commercially sensitive. That is why its use should be restricted to budgeting purposes only. This is also why some anomalies can sometimes find their way into these data.

In any event, thank you for your appreciative comment.