January constructsteel newsletter

UK construction output rose in October for the fourth successive month despite negative quarterly growth in the economy overall. Monthly construction output rose 0.8% in October; the increase in output was driven by private new housing, which posted a 2.9% increase, while non-housing repairs and maintenance increased 1.7%. Link Turnover at the country’s Top 150 contractors and housebuilders rose by an average 18% last year as the industry bounced back from the squeeze on income caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Link

More than half of German construction companies expect a decline in output this year and only 15% think their businesses will expand, according to a survey by the German Economic Institute. Sentiment is slightly more optimistic for the economy, where 40% of companies say business activity will probably shrink because of supply chain issues and energy costs driven higher by the cut-off of Russian gas.

US nonresidential spending was up 0.9% in November compared to previous month and 8.5% year over year. Spending increased on a monthly basis in nine of 16 nonresidential subcategories while private nonresidential spending increased 1.7%, while public spending dropped by 0.1%. Link The Dodge Momentum Index, a benchmark that measures nonresidential building planning, increased 3.8% in November due to a healthy growth in hotel and data center projects. The November reading follows a 9.6% increase in October and is up 25% for the year. That indicates owners and developers still think the construction sector will weather an economic slowdown in the next year. Link

Construction’s unemployment rate fell from 4.1% in October to 3.9% in November, higher than the nationwide rate of 3.7%. Employers have hired aggressively, increasing compensation in an effort to retain workers within the context of the great resignation. Construction is on a hiring spree, netting 20,000 jobs in November. Year over year, it recorded a change of 248,000, or 3.3%. Link

The Indian government and the Asian Development Bank have signed a loan agreement totaling US$1.2 billion for the development of infrastructure across the country. The agreements are said to cover projects to improve the power sector and highways in the northeastern state of Tripura and Assam. Link

More than 3,000 kilometers of new railway lines will be put into operation in China this year, including 2,500 kilometers of high-speed railways. The construction of new railways in China include the Sichuan-Xizang Railway, and a total of 102 railway projects which are planned in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of China. Link

Saudi Arabia’s construction sector has shown signs of recovery in the third quarter of 2022 as became evident following the rise in local cement sales volumes. The Kingdom’s sales of local cement increased by 5.4 percent year-on-year between July-November 2022 period while the consistent offtake of new residential loans, along with the softening of construction material prices, aided the recovery of the construction sector. Link

The global modular market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5%, adding nearly US$40 billion to its value in five years. Labour shortages, the drive towards net zero and customer demand will all spur growth in the sector, according to Frost & Sullivan’s analysis. Link

Investment in low-carbon construction technology surpassed $2 billion this year as the building industry seeks ways to lower its emissions imprint, according to A/O PropTech. Overall, more than $4.5 billion has been directly invested in decarbonizing architecture since 2017 – that includes 452 deals, 80% of which were in North America and Europe. Link

Building materials manufacturer CRH has announced CRH Ventures — its venture capital unit — which will support the development of new technologies and innovative solutions to meet the increasingly complex needs of those in the industry and evolving trends in construction. With access to a US$250 million venturing and innovation fund to invest, CRH Ventures will partner with construction and climate technology companies, operating across the construction value chain. Link

UK builders’ merchants sold 9% less product in the third quarter of 2022 than in Q3 2021 – the drop follows an 11% fall seen in Q2 2022. However, just like the second quarter, although volumes were down in Q3, sales revenue was up 4.3% compared to Q3 2021 due to a steep increase in prices. Link

South Korean construction and engineering company Samsung C&T has agreed an investment and collaboration deal with Latvian prefabricated building specialist Forta Pro, intending to scale up and advance smart modular construction manufacture in markets around the world. With production facilities currently based in the Latvian cities of Jelgava and Ventspils, Forta Pro specializes in the construction of high-rise, large scale modular buildings. Link

Trimble has acquired Ryvit, an integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) provider for the construction industry, as part of the company’s goal to make it easier for data to be communicated across projects. Launched in 2016, Ryvit builds connections between commonly used applications and data sources, enabling information sharing both within and across organizations. Link

Portable buildings specialist Algeco, part of the European modular services and infrastructure giant Modulaire, has acquired steel site storage and accommodation units business Mobile Mini UK Holdings. The move will create the UK’s biggest temporary accommodation solutions business with a fleet of 82,000 units and 38 branches. Link

London-based contractor Balfour Beatty announced that it was updating its guidance for the 2022 fiscal year and projected that the company’s performance would be better than previously anticipated. Revenue is expected to be about 5% ahead of 2021’s end-of-year with backlog also anticipated to be 5% higher than 2021’s, mostly due to favorable foreign exchange rates. Link

Modular housing company Plant Prefab has secured $42m in Series C and other funding to support expansion plans. The latest round was led by the venture capital arm of Brazilian steel producer Gerdau, with additional investments by Asahi Kasei, Brown Angel Group, ICT Capital and Unreasonable Collective. Link