WO
RLD
NEWS
8
international
construction
march 2015
U
K
Concrete pump rental specialist Camfaud supplied a Putzmesiter
M47 truck-mounted concrete pump to contractor Ellmer Construction for
remodellingwork on TwickenhamStadium in London. The 47m unit was
specified to reach the area of the stands being remodelled, and another key
requirement was that it could be set up on the pitch but outside the playing
area. An aluminium temporary roadway/ground protection systemwas
installed to provide access and the pumpwas set using its one side support
(OSS) system. This reduced the outriggerwidth from 9m to less than 7m.
Theworkwas carried out ahead of the current SixNations rugby union
tournament.
GLOB
A
L
N
ew studyfinds
constructiongrowt
Timetric figures show global market accelerated
from annual growth of +
2.7
%
a year in 2011 to
2013, to +
2.1%
in 2014
G
lobal construction output increased +3.1% in 2014, with forecasts
from financial information company Timetric for growth of +3.8%
this year.
The latest analysis represents an improvement from 2011 to 2013, when
figures from the Timetric said growth averaged just +2.7% in the 50
largest constructionmarkets in the world.The company added that annual
increases should average +3.9% from 2016 to 2020.
Timetric said the global industry would grow from US$ 7.4 trillion
in 2010 to US$ 8.5 trillion this year. By 2020, it said it would stand at
US$ 10.3 trillion, when measured at constant 2010 prices and exchange
rates.
Danny Richards, lead economist at Timetric’s Construction Intelligence
Centre (CIC), said, “This expansion provides huge opportunities to those
investing andoperating in the industry aswell as those supplying goods and
services to it.However, the expansion is neither uniform across theworldor
within regions, and risks and challenges abound.”
Among the study’s keyfindingswas a trend for a faster growth in emerging
markets compared with more developed economies. Timetric added that
in 2012, emerging markets accounted for more than half of the world’s
construction output. By 2020 that is forecast to grow to give them a 56%
share.
Between 2016 and 2020, construction output in developed economies
is forecast to grow 2.2% a year on average, whileTimetric expects a rate of
+5.3% in emergingmarkets.
Construction industries in theMiddle East andAfrica region are forecast
to be the fastest growing between 2016 and 2020, overtaking the Asia-
Pacific region. However, Timetric added that Asia-Pacific’s share of global
constructionoutputwould continue to rise, reaching close to49% in2020,
up from 40% in 2010.
U
S
U
Sgains
US construction output totalled
US$961billion in2014, according
to theUSCensus Bureau.This was
a +5.6% increase on 2013, and the
highest the figure has been since
2008.
The main area of growth last year
was the private non-residential
market, which was up +5.3% year-
on-year. This was despite a -0.2%
decline in activity in December
compared toNovember.
On the other hand, publicly
funded constructionwas up +1.1%
month-on-month from November
toDecember, and it was also up on
a year-on-year basis by +6.7%.
Meanwhile private residential
construction was up +0.3% from
November to December, but was
down -4.0% compared to a year
earlier. However, taking 2014 as
a whole, the private residential
market was up +4.1%.
Commenting on the figures, Ken
Simonson, chief economist at the
Associated General Contractors of
America (AGC) trade association
said, “For the first time in nearly a
decade therewas growth in all three
major construction segments—
public, private non-residential and
residential. If the president and
Congress can work out a way to
pay for long-term investments in
our aging infrastructure, there is a
good chance this patternwill repeat
in 2015.”
He
added,
“The
hottest
segments in 2014 as a whole were
warehouses, which leaped +50%,
and
multifamily
(residential
construction), which climbed
+34%. Both of these categories
should dowell again in 2015.”
Other private non-residential
segments that grew steeply in
2014 included offices (+24%),
manufacturing (+16%), power,
including oil and gas pipelines and
fieldwork (+14%), and commercial
– retail, warehouse and farm
(+13%).
The
two
biggest
public
construction segments both grew
in 2014 - highways and streets
(+4.1%) and education (+1.2%).
In addition, public spending on
transportation facilities such as
transit, airport and ports rose
+4.9%.
CH
I
LE
M
inistry
speak
er
The director of Chile’s public roads
programme, Mario Fernández,
will give the keynote speech at the
Latin American Road Building
conference inSantiago,Chile on20
October this year.
Mr Fernández, National Director
of Public Roads at the Ministry of
Public Works, is a senior figure in
Chile’s infrastructure sector and
an authority on the country’s road
investment plans. At the conference
he will outline his vision for the
roadnetwork for 2015-20.
The Latin American Road
Building Conference is organised
by KHL Group and its magazines
Construction Latin America
and
International Construction
, and will
be held in Santiago, Chile on 20
October, the day before the start
of the Conexpo Latin America
exhibition.
For
details,
please
visit:
U
S
I
nsider
charges
The US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) charged a
former Shaw Group executive and
his brother-in-law with insider
trading. The allegations date back
to 2012, when Shaw Group was
acquired byChicagoBridge& Iron
(CB&I).
Jesse Roberts III, brother-in-law
former Shaw vice president Scott
Zeringue, is alleged by the SEC
to have made some US$ 920,000
through illegal trading practices.
Mr Zeringue is said to have
passed on information about the
impending acquisition of Shaw by
CB&I before the deal was made
public. Mr Zeringue has already
pled guilty to separate insider
trading charges, for which he has
paid a fine and re-paid proceeds.
The new charges apply to both
Mr Zeringue and Mr Roberts. In
addition to paying profits from the
trades and associated, fines, insider
trading violations carry amaximum
prison term of 20 years.
