12
international
construction
Türkiye
Ekim
2013
English translation
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
HIGHLIGTS
Russia has launched a US$15.4 billion
residential development project in
St Petersburg covering over 900 ha
and scheduled to take 15 years to
complete. Programme management
and construction consult Turner
& Townsend has been chosen by
developer SPb Renovation to help
deliver the project, which involves
constructing 1,200 new buildings
across 22 sites around the city.
A new international airport on the
outskirts of the Sudanese capital,
Khartoum, is to be financed with a
US$700 million loan from China,
according to Sudan’s state news
agency. Construction of the airport,
which is planned to feature an
86,000 m2 passenger terminal and
handle 6.8 million passengers a
year, is due to start at the end of
2013 and last three years.
The Asian Development Bank has
approved a US$ 410 million loan to
support construction of the Second
Southern Highway, connecting Ho Chi
Minh City in Southern Vietnam to the
Mekong Delta and southern coastal
regions. Construction will include two
cable-stayed bridges with a combined
length of 5 km, as well as access and
interconnecting roads totalling 26 km.
Employment in the US construction
industry hit its highest level since
2008, according to data for June
from the US Bureau of Labor. The
total headcount increased 3.4%,
to 5,812,000 year-on-year in June,
while unemployment fell to 9.8%
from 12.8% in June 2012 - the
first time the rate has fallen below
double digits since 2008.
Contractors are increasingly looking
outside the region for growth, with
65% of respondents to a survey by
QBE of over 500 businesses planning
to expand their operations into new
countries over the next five years.
QBE found that 32% of respondents
planned to expand in Asia and South
America, and 20% in Africa, while
half said they believed it would take
two years of more for a full economic
recovery in Europe.
The World Bank is to provide US$340
million in funding for East Africa’s
Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric
Project, which will provide power to
Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. The
80 MW project is located 97 km west
of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake
by area, which borders Tanzania. The
overall project cost is US$467 million.
T
he global construction
equipment market will
see average annual growth
of 6% between 2012 and 2017,
according to a new report from
market research company The
Freedonia Group. This will see
the value of the sector rise from
US$142 billion in 2012 to
US$189 billion in 2017.
According to Freedonia, the
strongest growth will be in the
Asia-Pacific region, where the
market for equipment will grow
an average of 8.3% per year to
US$93.4 billion by 2017. This
is more than double its value of
US$40.6 billion in 2007, and
will represent almost half of
global demand for construction
equipment.
All other regions are expected
to see growth below the 6%
global average. The strongest will
be Africa and the Middle-East,
where the market is expected
to see an average annual rise of
5.5%, to reach US$9.6 billion by
2017.
Western Europe is also
forecast for relatively strong
growth of 5.1% between 2012
and 2017. However, this was the
weakest region of the world in the
crisis years, with a 3.4% annual
average decline between 2007
and 2012. This means that at
US$23.1 billion, the value of its
construction equipment market in
2017 will only just be above the
2007 level of US$21.4 billion.
In North America, the second
largest equipment market after
Asia, growth will average 2.9%
per year to 2017, which will bring
regional sales to US$47 billion.
Latin America is set for a
4.6% annual average increase,
taking the sector to US$8.3
billion by 2017. Eastern Europe,
including Russia, will rise 4.7%
per annum to US$7.7 billion by
2017.
O
il and gas contractor Saipem faces corruption
investigations relating to alleged offenses in Algeria,
financial penalties over a historic case in Nigeria and a
probe into accounting irregularities. In August, Pietro Varone,
a former head of its engineering division, was arrested in Italy
over a bribery investigation relating to Algerian gas contracts.
Nearly US$266 million in bribes is alleged to have been paid
to officials in Algeria.
Saipem and its parent company Eni have denied any
wrongdoing in Algeria, and said an internal investigation
found no evidence of payments to public officials in the
country. At the same time, Saipem has also entered into a so-
called “tolling agreement” with the US Department of Justice.
This extends the limitation period under which it could be
held liable for violating federal laws by six months. However, it
said this did not constitute an admission of guilt.
Meanwhile, a subsidiary of Saipem was found guilty by
a Milan court of separate corruption offenses in Nigeria. The
decision resulted in the seizure of US$32.6 million pending an
appeal, and the imposition of a € US$800,000 penalty.
The case relates to Saipem’s Snamprogetti Netherlands
business, which was part of the TSKJ consortium that bribed
Nigerian public officials over a decade in order to win contracts
to build liquid natural gas plants on Bonny Island, Nigeria.
Saipem said it would evaluate the justification for the new
ruling in Milan, and would appeal.
This news also comes as Italian market securities regulator
Consob started separate procedures to sanction Saipem after
uncovering irregularities in its 2012 accounts. Saipem revised
its 2013 earnings guidance and its outlook for 2013 at the
start of this year, but Consob said it had found evidence
of a number of violations including a delay in announcing
January’s profit warning to the market.
Saipem battles
corruption allegations
Equipment market growth forecast
