9
WORLD NEWS
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
OCTOBER 2013
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved
a package of funding totalling US$747 million
(€553 million) to support development projects
across the Middle East and Africa. The bank will
fund a range of projects including Tunisia’s Rades-C
combined cycle power project, which it said would
receive the largest single award at US$200 million
(€148 million). Other large awards included US$190
million (€141 million) for a sanitation improvement
project In Iran, while Burkina Faso is set to receive
US$100 million (€74 million) in funding to support
the construction of new airport to serve the capital
Ouagadougou.
INDIA
Cement producer Jaiprakash Associates has agreed
to sell a 4.8 million tonnes a year capacity unit in
Gujarat to UltraTech Cement for INR3,800 crore
(€444 million). UltraTech is India’s largest cement
producer by capacity, and the deal will see the
amount it can produce per year rise to 59 million
tonnes. News of the acquisition comes after Irish
producer CRH ended negotiations with Japyee – the
parent company of Jaiprakash – in October last
year over a possible deal to purchase its facilities in
Gujarat.
US
Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is to
merge two of the world’s biggest scaffolding and
formwork businesses after simultaneously acquiring
Harsco Infrastructure from Harcso and Brand Energy
from First Reserve. The new combined business will
have total sales of US$3 billion (€2.2 billion) and
will be run under the Brand Energy & Infrastructure
Services name from its current US head office. Brand
chairman and CEO Paul Wood will take charge of
the combined business, with other directors coming
from both companies.
SOUTH AFRICA
A three-week strike by 90,000 construction workers
in South Africa has come to an end with a 12%
pay deal being agreed between the South African
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the
South African Federation of Civil Engineering
Contractors (SAFCEC). Negotiating for construction
workers, NUM had demanded an increase from
the minimum monthly wage from ZAR4,400 (€326)
to ZAR 5,500 (€407), a 25% increase. The union
had previously rejected 8% and 10% pay increase
offers. For its part, SAFCEC has said that any wage
increases must be accompanied by an increase in
productivity.
ARGENTINA
The Inter-American Development Bank has pledged
funding worth US$1.5 billion (€1.1 billion) to
support work on the country’s rail network. It said
a US$1.2 billion (€888 million) credit line would
be used to finance a programme to improve the
country’s metropolitan railroads, while a US$300
million (€222 million) loan will be used to improve
the Plaza Constitución to La Plata branch of
the General Roca Railroad, in the Buenos Aires
metropolitan area.
WORLD IN BRIEF
Due for completion in 2019, the 80,000 seat Kasumigaoka National Stadium
will be built on the site of Tokyo’s 1964 Olympic Stadium, ahead of the 2020
Summer Games.
Construction of venues
and infrastructure
for the 2020 Summer
Olympics in Tokyo,
Japan is expected to
cost US$4.54 billion
(€3.36 billion). Tokyo,
which previously
hosted the summer
games in 1964, beat-off
alternative bids from
Madrid, Spain, and
Istanbul, Turkey.
JAPAN
Further Fukushima nuclear
containment planned
of the contaminated area
with asphalt.
The Japanese
government has said it
will fund the most urgent
measures, including
the frozen soil wall. The
budget for this work has
been put at JPY47 billion
(€348 million).
Soil freezing involves
sinking boreholes into
the ground and then
circulating coolant
through them to create
a contiguous cut-off
wall. With a total length
of some 1,000m and a
depth of 27m, the project
is thought to be the
largest ever application
of soil freezing.
The Fukushima
plant was damaged
beyond repair in a
2011 magnitude 9.0
earthquake and tsunami.
The asphalt paving
containment is expected
to start in October.
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The Japanese
government has
announced a series of
measures to deal with
on-going contamination
of groundwater at the
stricken Fukushima
nuclear power plant.
These include sinking
frozen soil walls
around the perimeter
of the plant, lowering
groundwater levels
upstream of the facility
and paving the surface
GLOBAL
Currency changes hit
international costs
Rising Chinese Yuan impacts building
materials costs worldwide
C
ost fluctuations were the dominant factor in driving relative construction costs
over the last 12 months, according to consultant EC Harris’ 2013 International
Construction Costs report.
The findings were based on benchmark building costs in 47 countries around the
globe. EC Harris said the fall of the Japanese Yen and Australian Dollar along with the
appreciation of the Chinese Yuan had a significant impact.
Simon Rawlinson, head of strategic research and insight at EC Harris, said the fall of
the Yen and the appreciation of the Chinese Yuan had had a particular impact. "This
not only makes Chinese imported materials to other countries more expensive, but
has also contributed to China moving nearly half way up the global (cost) rankings.”
On the other hand, the fall in demand for commodities in many emerging markets
has seen other costs drop, particularly those for metallic building materials.
The ten most expensive countries to build in are, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Denmark,
Sweden, Macau, Australia, Japan, France, Singapore and Belgium. In Hong Kong,
construction costs are 1.42 to 1.68 times what they are in the UK – the benchmark. The
cheapest countries are India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Morocco and Malaysia. In India, the
cheapest of all, costs are just 0.29 t0 0.34 what they are in the UK.
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