Tools

What tools are included beyond the main report?

Four dedicated tools are available on Advanced and Ultimate plans, each designed for a specific type of cross-country cost analysis:

• Plant Construction Cost Index — a monthly index tracking how capital costs for building manufacturing plants are evolving, with a 6-month forecast
• Plant Location Factors — multipliers for converting plant construction costs between countries
• Labor Costs & Productivity — country-level workforce cost and productivity data across manufacturing and construction roles
• Utilities Costs — industrial utility prices for the report country, with forecasts for selected series

All four tools are updated monthly.

These tools sit alongside the main report but serve a different purpose — they deliver data you can use directly in your own calculations, rather than comparative scores and rankings.

How do the tools take the analysis further?

The main report already includes nominal values — labor rates in USD/hour, country multipliers relative to the US — but the tools go further in four specific ways:

• Global comparison in one view. Plant Location Factors covers all 33 countries simultaneously, letting you compare construction cost levels across the full group in a single table. The report presents your country against the global benchmark; the tools let you rank every country directly against each other.
• Fresher data. Tools are updated with no data lag — they reflect the most recent available period. The report's pillar scores carry an approximately four-month gap to ensure all countries have finalized their statistical releases.
• Finer breakdowns. The tools go deeper than the report's pillar-level view. Labor Costs & Productivity separates manufacturing labor by role (operator vs. supervisor). Utilities Costs breaks out individual utility prices rather than the composite average used in the pillar. For Utilities, each utility typically has around three assessments (e.g., cash on-site, cash off-site, and contract price).
• Additional assessments and forecasts. The tools include data series that don't feed directly into the pillar scores, plus forward-looking forecasts on construction costs and selected utility prices.

Together, the report and tools work as a system: use the report to identify where structural advantages and constraints lie, then use the tools to quantify them for your specific analysis.

How do I estimate what a plant would cost in another country?

The Plant Location Factors tool gives you monthly multipliers that translate plant construction costs from each of the 32 peer countries into your report country's basis.

Your report country is always the baseline (= 1.00). Each peer country has its own factor showing what its plants would cost if built in your country. The calculation is straightforward:

Estimated cost in your country = Plant cost in peer country × that peer country's Location Factor

A factor of 2.00 means a plant operating in that peer country would cost twice as much if built in your country. A factor of 0.80 means it would cost 80% as much.

The factors are built from four components — construction labor costs and productivity, material costs, logistics (import duties, freight, equipment delivery), and business environment conditions — each weighted by its significance in overall plant construction costs. Updated monthly.

Can I track how construction costs are changing?

Yes — the Plant Construction Cost Index tracks how capital costs for building manufacturing plants are evolving in each country, month by month. The index uses January 2000 as the base period (= 100), so you can see exactly how construction costs have moved over more than two decades.

Two common ways to use it:

• Updating a historical estimate: if you have a CapEx figure from a past project, multiply it by the ratio of the current index to the historical index to bring it to present-day values.
• Forecasting near-term costs: the index includes a 6-month forecast, so you can anticipate where construction costs are heading before finalizing a budget.

The index is compiled from equipment prices, construction costs, engineering & supervision, construction labor, materials, logistics, and business environment conditions — each weighted by its significance in overall plant construction costs.

What labor cost data is available?

The Labor Costs & Productivity tool provides country-level workforce metrics across manufacturing and construction roles. This includes labor costs and prices for chemical plant operators and supervisors — the workforce categories most directly relevant to industrial plant operations.

The data covers both the cost of labor (what employers pay) and productivity indicators, so you can assess not just how expensive a workforce is, but how that cost relates to output. This is particularly useful when comparing countries where low wages don't necessarily translate into low effective labor costs once productivity differences are factored in.

What utility prices does the product cover?

The Utilities Costs tool provides prices for key industrial utilities used in manufacturing plant operations — including steam, compressed air, process water, and similar inputs. Prices are reported for the report country only, and forecasts are included for selected series.

This data is useful for calibrating the utilities component of operating cost models for a specific country. It complements the Energy & Utilities Costs Pillar in the main report — the Pillar consolidates average energy and utility prices into a composite score, while the Utilities Costs tool presents individual utility prices exclusively (energy is not included). For most utilities, three assessments are available — for example, cash on-site, cash off-site, and contract price — giving you a more granular view than the pillar-level composite. Water and compressed air are reported as a single price only.

Do any of the tools include forecasts?

Yes — two of the four tools include forward-looking data:

• Plant Construction Cost Index — includes a 6-month forecast, updated monthly
• Utilities Costs — includes forecasts for selected utility price series

The other two — Plant Location Factors and Labor Costs & Productivity — are based on current and historical data only.

It's worth noting that the main report's scores and rankings are entirely historical — no forecasts are applied at the scoring level. Forward-looking data exists only in these two tools.

Are the tools available on all plans?

No. All four tools — Plant Construction Cost Index, Plant Location Factors, Labor Costs & Productivity, and Utilities Costs — are exclusive to Advanced and Ultimate plans. Starter and Pro plans do not include access to any of the tools.

If you're currently on Starter or Pro and need the tools, you can upgrade your plan at any time. The upgrade applies to your entire subscription (all covered countries), and you pay only the prorated difference for the remainder of your billing period.