February constructsteel newsletter

US President Joe Biden has unveiled numerous policies that will impact the construction sector
in the US. One of his first actions was to revoke the presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL pipeline. The President has also terminated the national emergency declaration cited by the Trump administration to divert money to the building of the wall at the US-Mexico border and stopped all wall construction projects. Joe Biden also signed an executive order aimed at increasing government purchases of American-made products, a move that could affect construction firms that do business with the federal government. Most notably for contractors, Biden indicated the Buy American policies will apply to his massive plans for
infrastructure and new energy projects.

State of New York plans to spend $306 billion on infrastructure to help revive the state’s economy. Governor Cuomo announced plans that includes a US$51 billion plan to redevelop Manhattan’s Midtown West neighbourhood. The state’s airports, railways and roads will receive considerable investment, with US$16 billion to be spent on a renewal and expansion of Penn Station to add 40% more train capacity. The state will continue with its US$8 billion refurbishment of LaGuardia Airport and on the US$13billion refurb of JFK Airport

UK construction industry associations have described their relief, following the UK-EU trade agreement reached by the construction market and regulations European Commission’s president
Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Boris Johnson. National Federation of Builders said that the agreement would “enable construction companies to continue to reliably forecast the cost and availability of products and materials imported from the EU or comprising components made in the EU.

The number of completions of buildings 200m and taller declined 20% in 2020 compared to 2019
with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic being cited as a major reason, according to the latest
report from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. In total, 106 buildings of 200m or
above were completed in 2020 compared to 2019’s 133.

Danish energy group Ørsted has been given permission by the UK government to develop a third
offshore wind farm as part of the Hornsea project, off the east coast of England. The proposal for the new offshore wind farm – set to be the largest of its type in the world – includes 300 wind turbine generators, each with a rotor diameter of up to 265m and an overall height of 325m.

India’s annual budget has given a boost to the country’s construction industry, with overall infrastructure spending set to increase by over 30% and the establishment of a new Development Finance Institution. The new institution has a starting capital of approximately US$2.7 billion and will be used to help fund large-scale infrastructure projects

Four of China’s costliest cities scramble to knock a real estate bull run off its pace amid fear of risk and bubbling debt. Shanghai, the country’s commercial hub, kicked off the market-cooling policies with several policies to limit the amount of money homebuyers can borrow for buying real estate. That was followed within days by Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, some of the biggest and most affluent population centres besides Beijing.

First carbon neutral roadworks has been completed in UK by the Contracting Services division of Aggregates Industries (AI). AI removed the top 32cm of the existing pavement surface and used it to produce an ex situ cold recycled asphalt. This was then mixed with the company’s SuperLow asphalt to make a carbon neutral paving surface.

New bio-mimicking research set to enhance 3D printing possibilities in large-scale
construction – researchers in Australia have taken inspiration from the shell patterning on
lobsters to enhance the strength of 3D-printed concrete. By using a twisting pattern, similar to the internal structure of a lobster’s shell, combined with a special concrete mix enhanced with steel fibres, the resultant 3D-printed structures were stronger, more efficient and more sustainable than traditionally produced concrete.

The rise in prices of steel has hit the Indian construction industry hard. Though the prices are going up constantly in recent years, the period from June to December has seen sharp increase – the price has gone up by ₹22,000 in 6 months and almost doubled in a year. Link Construction sector has also been facing a shortage of long steel products, such as rods, bars and wire as many SMEs struggle to emerge from the effects of the pandemic on labour and capital as well as skyhigh iron-ore prices.

The UK’s government’s ‘Construction Playbook’ will be a ‘game changer’ which creates an ‘open digital marketplace for building parts’. The Construction Playbook is expected to be similar to the existing Outsourcing Playbook, and will provide guidance on planning, evaluation, contract selection and implementation

A new global initiative called SteelZero, created by The Climate Group in partnership with ResponsibleSteel, brings together the top steel buyers across the globe — including construction companies, real estate groups and property developers — and challenges them to commit to procuring 100 percent net-zero emissions steel by 2050.

Fluor has announced that it will be selling maintenance services division, Stork (a major business with revenues of more than US$2 billion), and that from the first quarter of 2021, it will conduct its operations in three business segments: Energy Solutions, Urban Solutions and Mission Solutions. The company also expects that by 2023 70% of its revenue will be coming from non-traditional oil and gas projects – chemicals, mining and life sciences as well as energy transition projects that focus on a shift from fossil-base

Investment firm CVC Capital Partners is to acquire Stark Group, a distributor of heavy building materials in northern Europe. CVC expects the purchase of Stark to be completed by the second quarter of 2021, but has not disclosed financial details of its agreement to buy the Denmark-based firm.

LafargeHolcim has signed an agreement to acquire commercial roofing and building envelope solutions company Firestone Building Products (FSBP) for US$3.4 billion. FSBP is based in the US and in 2020 had net sales of approximately US$1.8 billion. LafargeHolcim says that the purchase will strengthen its position in the US and that it expects FSBP to continue to grow and reach US$6 billion in annual net sales. In the future the company aims to globalise the business, leveraging its European and Latin American footprint

Caterpillar has published its full year financial results, which show its 2020 sales and revenues figure of US$41.7 billion was down 22% on 2019’s $53.8 billion. The company said the lower sales were a result of lower end-user demand and the impact from changes in dealer inventories.

Hilti has reported a 9.6% fall in 2020 revenues, largely the result of the Covid-19 pandemic, although it said the downturn had been less severe than initially feared. The revenue fall in local currencies was 4.3%. The company, best known for its power tools and other specialist
equipment, said it expected a moderate recovery in 2021, although dependent on the progress of the pandemic.

Dubai-based construction major Arabtec has officially filed for an insolvent liquidation following
a net loss of $216m for the first six months of the year. Arabtec was valued at about $8.17 billion at its peak in 2014 and is now worth $216.5 million, with the stock down 60 percent this year alone.

Two major European contractors, U.K.-based Balfour Beatty and Lendlease Europe, announced this week plans to reduce carbon emissions on their construction projects. Balfour Beatty said it has developed technology to manage power usage on its jobsites and reduce carbon emissions across its construction sites by up to 80%. Lendlease Europe released it’s “Roadmap to Absolute Zero Carbon,” a 20-year plan to reduce emissions on construction projects.