INTERNATIONAL CORROSION COST FACTS

According to NACE International, one of the world’s leading authorities on corrosion engineering and
control, corrosion costs are 3.1% of GDP for an industrial economy.

The figures are based on US Government funded research that analysed a number of key sectors:

 Infrastructure
 Utilities
 Government
 Transport
 Manufacturing

Detailed analysis, released in 2002, was undertaken to establish costs within each sector and
calculate the cost to the US economy, resulting in the figure of 3.1%, which NACE calculates is
applicable to all developed economies.

United Kingdom
GDP (2008): $2,279 billion
Annual cost of corrosion: $70.6 billion

Malaysia
GDP (2009): $207.4 billion
Annual cost of corrosion: $6.7 billion

Australia
GDP (2009): $920 billion
Annual cost of corrosion: $70.6 billion

USA
GDP (2007) $13,840 billion
Annual cost of corrosion: $429 billion

All figures US Dollars

NACE figures: http://events.nace.org/publicaffairs/cocorrindex.asp
GDP figures: http://www.economywatch.com/

Every year more than $20 billion is spent on bolts and fasteners alone (NACE 2002)

Reports from the North Sea indicate that many bolts are corroding before an installation has even
been commissioned with cadmium plated bolts failing after only one year and PTFE coated bolts
failing within weeks.

BP in the UK showed costs between £150,000 and £250,000 for retrospective bolt preservation on
each of their North Sea assets (BP 2000).

Around the world there are more than 7,000 offshore oil & gas installations in place, many of which
will have to be decommissioned in the coming years and decades. Over the next 10-20 years, an
average of 15-25 installations are expected to be abandoned annually. In addition several
thousands of kilometres of pipelines will have to be removed, trenched or covered. The continental
shelf bordering the states of the European Community and Norway has more than 600 offshore oil
and gas platforms and several thousand kilometres of pipelines.
A&E Systems Limited
3 Charles Wood Road, Dereham, NR19 1SX, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1362 694915 Tel: +44 (0)1362 695350
Company Registration No: 6271390
ABN 46 125 113 733