international
construction
october 2014
6
WORLDNEWS
SRI LANKA
TheAsianDevelopment
Bank (ADB) has approvedUS$800
million in funding for rural and national
road upgrades in six provinces inSri
Lanka. The IntegratedRoad Investment
Programme, or “iRoad”, will upgrade
2,200 km of rural access roads,
and restore andmaintain400 km of
national roads under five projects and
will run until 2024.
EUROPE
Construction output in the
EUwas up+0.6% in July compared
to a year ago, according to Eurostat.
Building constructionwas up+0.2% ,
but civil engineeringwas down -1%.
The biggest gains in total construction
were seen inSlovenia (+24.8%),
Hungary (+17.5%) andSpain
(+11.6%). The largest decreaseswere
inRomania (-19.7%), Portugal (-8.8%)
andSlovakia (-6.1%).
BRAZIL
The Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) is to provide
financingworthUS$480million to
the state of São Paulo for its highway
investment programme. The funds
will be used to upgrade 500 km of
highways inSão Paulo and finance
engineering studies, logistical planning
andmeasures to improve road safety.
UKRAINE
The EuropeanBank for
Reconstruction andDevelopment
(EBRD) has confirmed its backing
for Ukraine, with
€
1 billion (US$
1.3 billion) in investments scheduled
this year. Representatives from
the bank attended the latest Yalta
EuropeanStrategy (YES) annual
meeting inKiev, which offered the
opportunity for governments and key
investors to explore potential business
opportunities.
GLOBAL
Worldwide revenues from
the power rental market are forecast
to grow fromUS$6.4 billion in2011
toUS$17 billion by 2017, with a
combined annual growth rate of 17%,
according to a report by global market
research and consulting company
MarketsandMarkets. It said themarket
for temporary rental powerwould be
driven by countries inAsia-Pacific, the
Middle East andAfrica, andCentral and
SouthAmerica, due to a shortfall in
capital expenditure and poor planning.
The global demand for electricity is
expected to increase by 26% between
2007 and2030.
HIGHLIGHTS
GLOBAL
Developedmarkets
drivedemand
Demand for construction equipment is growing in
NorthAmerica and parts of Europe, whilemany
previously robust emerging economies are seeing
a slowdown.
V
olvo Construction Equipment CEO Martin Weissburg says the
growth drivers in the global construction equipmentmarket now are
North America and to a lesser extent Europe. This is a turnaround
from recent years,when itwas emergingmarkets thatwere themostdynamic.
In an exclusive interviewonp.14of thismonth’s issue,MrWeissburg said,
“NorthAmericahas comeback, it’s not just that’s it’s comingback. Itmight
flattenout a littlebit next year, but I thinkNorthAmerica is seeing a terrific
period of growth and economic stability.
“We’ve seen utilisation rates of the equipment continue to strengthen,
dealer rental fleetswithhigher utilisation, andour customers, the end-users
and contractors, not just in the replacement cycle, but in the expansion
cycle for their equipment. So it is a good stablemarket.
“Europe is a tale of many different Europes. With some of the political
turmoil and challenges going on, it’s hard to forecast. Parts of Europe
remain extremely strong, other parts are still working their way out of the
global recession, and there has even been some softening since the summer
months. So there’s amixed story there, but generally I’d say quite good.”
“Then the emergingmarkets, aftermany years withmany countries –not
all of them – having strong continuous growth, they are growing at much
lower levels and some are contracting. Brazil is not growing as quickly as
it had been, but it is still a very robust and dynamic market. Russia – we
know the challenges there, but there are some interesting opportunities still
and it is a market we are extremely committed to, as is our distribution
there.”
■
See the video of the interview at
US
Equipment exports slump
Exports of US-made construction
equipment were down -17.3% in
thefirst half of 2014 comparedwith
the same period last year.The value
of exports for the first six months
of 2014 was US$ 8.93 billion,
compared to US$ 10.8 billion for
the first-half 2013, according to the
US-basedAssociationofEquipment
Manufacturers (AEM), citing US
Department of Commerce data.
Africa was the only region where
US exports grew, with a +4.3%
increase.
Australia
/Oceania
recorded the steepest decline,
-38.6%, followedbySouthAmerica
with a -33.1% drop. Exports to
Europewere down -25.4%,Canada
dropped -4.6%, Asia -13.9% and,
Central America -23.7.
The biggest market for US-made
construction equipment in the first
half of the year was Canada, with
a value of US$ 3.51 billion, down
-4.6% on 2013. It was followed by
Mexico (US$ 770million, -24.6%),
Australia (US$ 425 million,
-40.6%), South Africa, (US$ 401
million, -26.7%) and Brazil (US$
358million, -30.1%).
The top 11 US construction
equipment export destinations all
saw a fall in sales in the first half of
the year. It was only Canada where
the it was limited to a single-digit
percentage decline.
BELGIUM
Factory
closure
Doosan Infracore has announced
it will close its excavator factory
and parts distribution facility in
Frameries, Belgiumwith the loss of
up to 313 jobs.
The company said that lower than
anticipated European demand for
excavators since 2010 had been
a key factor in the decision. It
added that the facility had been
accumulating losses since 2008,
and that there was no indication
of a turnaround in the foreseeable
future.
“The company launched many
initiatives in order to reduce the
costs of Frameries and to protect
employment. Despite all these
efforts and all the improvements
made, Frameries’ manufacturing
costs are still too high. This means
thatFrameries cannotoperatebeing
both profitable and competitive,”
said a statement from Doosan
Infracore Europe.
The statement added thatDoosan
Infracore Europe would continue
trading activities. Excavators for
sale in the European market will
now be sourced from Doosan’s
main factory in SouthKorea.
