international
construction
march 2015
REGIONALREPORT
2
4
Growth despite challenges
InUppsala the European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed a
loanof €200million (US$227million) formajor infrastructure
development projects. It follows € 1.4 billion (US$ 1.59 billion)
of EIB infrastructure loansmade in Sweden last year.
W
eak
ness
As the fourth largest market in Europe, Italy’s output was down
-2.2% to € 163 billion (US$ 185 billion) against a backdrop of
aweak economy.
Meanwhile Spain’s € 63 billion (US$ 72 billion) construction
market was down -2.4%, last year though there are signs the
country is on the way back up. According to the Arch-Vision
research, there hadbeen four positive quarters of growth.
A boost to Spain’s road network is on the horizon, following
a € 350million (US$ 396million) EIB loan for a series of new
projects. It will pave theway for a dozennew roads and upgrade
seven highway schemes totalling 350 km and part of the trans-
European transport network (TEN-T) across the continent.
The project has been assigned a total budget of € 26 billion
(US$ 30 billion) up to 2020, in order to drive major road
infrastructure improvements connecting the East, West, North
and South of Europe.
Nations inEasternEurope countries have been among the key
beneficiaries of EU infrastructure funding, including Hungary.
According to Eurostat figures, the country’s +14% growth was
among themost rapid inEurope last year.
It was boosted by a European
Commission’s agreement in August
that committed € 21.9 billion (US$
24.9 billion) to Hungary between 2014
and 2020. This is to be put towards
improving its overall economy, including
infrastructure development.
There have also been positive trends in
Poland, which has seen the continued
development of a number of key
motorway projects.
The road network around Warsaw is
among these schemes – with the city
also experiencing positive growth in
commercial construction.This includesworkon the Spire tower,
which at 220mhigh, will be the capital’s tallest building.
M
anuf acturer confidence
With major infrastructure schemes gaining traction across
Europe, equipment manufacturers have expressed optimism for
growth.
Pierre-Nicolas Selenne, salesmanager forCaterpillar inEurope,
Africa and theMiddleEast (EAME), said sales hadbeenbuoyant
over the past year.
He said, “Themarket for 2014was pretty robust andup+14%
to +15%.This wasn’t something that had been forecast as being
so high.The growth has been fuelled by places such as theUK –
whichhas been extremely dynamic in terms of the economy and
the housing sector and larger projects that are happening.”
He added that the Netherlands has also picked up, while
Germany and France have seen some moderate growth,
particularly in the first quarter.
As he explained, after a period of decline, areas of Southern
Europe suchasSpainand Italyhad“hit thebottomof the trough”
andwere starting to recover.
In his opinion, low interest rates across much of Europe had
playedapart in thepositiveeconomicoutlook.Thiswasbolstered
by a situation of lower productivity in recent yearsmeaning that
many of its customers had made moves to replace of ageing
machinery.
There was similar optimism from Niclas Wahlstrom, Volvo’s
vice president for the EMEAHubWest region.
He said, “During 2014, themarket grew for us, as did the total
market acrossEurope at a level thatwas better than expected.We
found that a lot of that growthwas drivenby rental fleets.
“Whileour forecasts for this year havebeen reviseddownwards,
I don’t think that is something we should overplay, as the whole
continent has been affectedby the situation inRussia.
“But we are confident we have good solutions including the
truck side of the business, and we have been developing more
features and improving engine technology.”
Overall, the market for 2014 had produced a number of
encouraging developments within Europe, which have shown
signs of being carried forward into2015.
While thepaceof growthhas beenuneven across the continent,
the forecasts of around +2% upturn for the year have at least
offered some genuine forwardmomentum.
iC
The Stuttgart
2
1 rail project
will improve
commuter
provisions
The UK
£
2
billion (
U
S$
3.1 billion)
Paramount Park
entertainment resort
in K
ent, UK
, has been approved and is
now entering the tendering phase. I
t
is expected to open in 2
02
0.
