March constructsteel newsletter

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that US$11.8 billion is to be invested in Canada’s public infrastructure over the next eight years, in order to “rebuild a more sustainable and resilient economy”. The investment will increase the country’s use of cleaner electric power, zero-emission vehicles and related infrastructure, in order to reduce pollution and help fight climate change. It includes the provision of a dedicated planning fund to speed up major projects and support the expansion of the country’s urban transport systems.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city is restarting US$17 billion of capital construction projects as part of its pandemic recovery effort. 1,700 construction projects will be given the green light by the end of March.

Toyota Motor Corporation has marked the start of construction works on its futuristic Woven City project with a ground-breaking ceremony, just one year after the project was first announced. Designed as a prototype for a fully connected environment, the experimental city is being built next to Toyota’s HigashiFuji production site at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan. Woven City will become a working community that will “bring new technology to life in a real-world environment across a wide range of areas”, including automated driving, personal mobility, robotics and artificial intelligence

Hong Kong, the world’s capital construction market and regulations of tall buildings, is turning up the dial on high-rise sustainable design, as the city aims for netzero emissions by 2050. Currently the city’s 42,000 buildings, of which more than 1,500 are skyscrapers exceeding 100m in height – consume up to 90% of the city’s electricity and contribute to 60% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

US construction industry takes first step toward comprehensive US BIM standard. National Institute of Building Sciences has already developed a national standard through a volunteer effort, but it has not evolved yet into a comprehensive standard like the one used in the UK. The new goal through a National BIM Program, according to NIBS, is “a solution at a national scale to enable digital process standards that will streamline business, accelerate the effectiveness of the supply chain, provide predictable processes, improve project outcomes, drive efficiency and foster innovation.”

South Africa saw a 12.7% increase in civil tenders awarded in 2020 compared with 2019; however, there is a severe shortage in skills at municipalities and State-owned entities to implement infrastructure projects. The country is also seeing a “significant boom” in do-it-yourself and home improvement projects.

Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued orders that all types of steel will be allowed for the construction of highways in the country due to rising steel prices.

Starbucks recently built a drive-thru location in Canada using an energy-efficient modular system with near-zero construction waste. Designed, manufactured and constructed by Vancouver-based Nexii Building Solutions, the store was assembled and built in six days. Nexii recently released plans for its first U.S. production facility – the plant will be able to produce more than 8 million square feet of building panels a year for projects in Northeast U.S. markets.

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has written an open letter to US president Joe Biden warning of the effects of recent increases in materials prices. According to the AGC, the cost of materials such as lumber and steel have reached “record-setting levels”, partly as a result of tariff levels. The price for non-residential materials and services increased 2.5% between December and January, and 10.7% since April last year.

China plans to kick off trading in its first national emissions-trading scheme (ETS) by the end of June. The national ETS centre will be located in Shanghai while the registration system will be in Wuhan, Hubei province. China already operates emissions-trading programmes on a pilot basis in seven cities and provinces. These programmes typically cover eight emissions-intensive industrial sectors — power plants, cement and construction materials, steel, petrochemical, chemical, non-ferrous metal, paper and aviation.

In what it’s claiming is the world’s first 3D-printed building facade using a process called cellular fabrication, a Tennessee credit union has unveiled its newest branch, complete with an undulating, multi-panel exterior that was “hung” on the building’s underlying structure. 3D-printed building specialist Branch Technology claims the system is a unique printing method that allows material to solidify in open space, creating a matrix of polymer in virtually any shape.

US-based Tutor Perini reported that its fourth-quarter and year-end 2020 revenue was up 15% and 20%, respectively, from the same periods in 2019. The company realized double-digit, year-over-year income growth across all three of its segments — civil, building and specialty construction.

Tech giant Oracle has launched a range of solutions for the construction industry, using artificial intelligence to analyse project data. The suite of solutions is designed to help users detect risks and make more informed project decisions and the first application within the range, Oracle Construction Intelligence Cloud Service, is now generally available.

French construction and concessions group Vinci has released its annual financial results for 2020, describing a ‘significant fall in earnings’ construction sector players due to the damaging effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The company announced that its consolidated net income was down 62% compared to the previous year, while its consolidated revenue was down 10%.

Global construction materials company LafargeHolcim and energy technology firm Schlumberger New Energy are to collaborate on large-scale carbon capture and storage products. The technology-driven partnership will see the companies experiment with using Schlumberger’s
technologies to capture carbon at LafargeHolcim’s cement plants. A feasibility study based on one of LafargeHolcim’s European plants and at a second North American site will be conducted using Schlumberger’s carbon sequestration technology.

Belgium-based Etex announces it has acquired a majority stake in leading French offsite construction company e-Loft. The company becomes part of Etex’s New Ways division, which develops sustainable, industrialised and modular construction solutions. As such, the acquisition is a key milestone on Etex’s strategic roadmap and an enabler of our ambition to shape the future of construction by “inspiring ways of living”.

Swedish Skanska had a good 2020 despite the pandemic thanks to bumper windfalls in commercial real estate sales and the sale of its stake in a US toll road PPP scheme. Despite a 10% fall in operating revenue, the builder and property developer ended the year just over US$1 billion in profit, 46% higher than 2019, beating the financial targets it had set for itself.

Modular prefabrication company and timber innovators Katerra has reportedly been saved from bankruptcy by a $200 million cash infusion from Japanese investment giant Softbank. In addition, Softbank is taking another 5 percent stake in the company, making it Katerra’s
majority shareholder. Katerra has struggled with delays, cost overruns and layoffs. Its cofounder, Michael Marks, stepped down as chief executive in May 2020, a month before 400 staff were laid off, about 7% of its total payroll.