13
november 2013
international
construction
NEWS REPORT
International growth
growth
to € 28 billion (US$ 39 billion). Similarly, the rise in the value
of new contracts signed for work in Asia and Oceania was up
+18.1% to € 34 billion (US$ 47 billion).
However, the European market was disappointing. While the
value of work done last year saw a marginal +1.2% improvement,
the value of new contracts signed fell -5.1% to € 73 billion (US$
100 billion).
And there were other regions where there was an even greater
disparity among work done and new contracts signed last year.
In the Latin America the value of work done was up +14.4%
last year. However, the value of new business took a steep dive of
-17.1%, down to € 13 billion (US$ 18 billion).
On a more positive note, while the value of work done in
the Middle East was down last year, there was a boom in new
contracts being signed, with a +36.8% rise in their value to € 16
billion (US$ 22 billion).
It can be a mistake to read too much into what the trend for
new contracts means for the value of work done in future years.
For example, in 2011, the value of new contracts was more or
less level with 2010 at € 169 billion (US$ 231 billion). However,
that did not stop the value of work done the following year,
rising by a useful +7.2%.
However, the fact remains that the estimated total new
contracts figure of € 179 billion (US$ 245 billion) this year is
a record for European contractors, and should be indicative of
growth in work done in years to come.
Who’s winning?
In terms of which country’s contractors are most active overseas,
the picture is an increasingly complex one. Ten years ago, French,
German and Swedish contractors claimed about a quarter of
the total European International revenues each, with various
companies from other countries making up the final 25%.
Today French and German contractors are still big players, but
their shares have dropped to about 18% of the total revenues
each. Swedish companies now claim less than 10% and they
have been overtaken by the Turkish and Spanish national groups.
This change in emphasis is also apparent from new contracts
data, which also underlines the emergence of Austria’s major
construction groups on the world stage.
iC
peak in 2005 it was 54.7%.
The intervening years have seen the various emerging markets
around the world grow in importance. This is underlined by
the Asia/Oceania region, which last year accounted for 18.3%
of European international construction revenues – a record in
terms of its proportion and the total value of € 31 billion (US$
42 billion).
But the rise in North American revenues meant the split
between revenues earned in developed and emerging markets
stayed fairly static year-on-year. In fact since 2010, there has
been a stable 60:40 split between the rich countries in Europe
and North America and other parts of the world. In absolute
terms, 2012 saw European contractors earn € 101 billion (US$
138 billion) of their international revenues in North America
and other European markets, with € 67 billion (US$ 91 billion)
of work done in emerging markets.
Although this split has been unchanged for three years, there
has been a marked shift over the last decade, with more and more
work being carried out by European contractors in emerging
markets. A decade ago, only about 25% of international work
was in these countries. Over the last ten years the cross-border
construction market has grown and that proportion has also
increased, with the effect that the value of work carried out in
emerging markets has tripled, from € 22 billion (US$ 30 billion)
in 2002 to € 67 billion (US$ 91 billion) in 2012.
New contracts
The EIC also collects data on the value of new contracts awarded,
although it says that this figure includes some estimates. Some
€ 179 billion (US$ 245 billion) of new business was signed last
year, a +6% increase on 2011.
Some of the trends for new contracts follow those for the value
of work carried out last year. For example, there was a +31.6%
increase in new business from North America, taking the total
Share of revenues by contractors’ home country
Austrian French German Swedish Turkish Spanish Others
Share of revenues by region
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Europe US & Canada Central & South America Asia & Oceania Africa Middle East
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
