Construction (Germany):
Good equipment utilisation rate

In construction the improvement of the business situation is primarily due to business activity in civil engineering whereas activity was comparably weak in structural engineering. On average, the equipment utilisation rate was somewhat higher than in the previous month; the comparable previous-year value was surpassed by 7 percentage points. There was no change in the level of order stocks: an increase was reported in structural engineering and a decline in civil engineering. On average, they ensured 2.6 months of construction and were a half a month higher than in the previous year. Only a fifth of the surveyed firms was not satisfied with their order reserves; twelve months ago more than half of them were. The scepticism with regard to future business development increased perceptibly, both in structural and in civil engineering. Construction prices rose again, and further increased can be expected in coming months, according to survey responses. The current business situation in eastern German construction improved in all three sectors of structural engineering; in civil engineering it again worsened and is clearly less favourable than in structural engineering. The outlook has clearly clouded. Equipment utilisation at 76% was higher than at the same time of the previous year; the range of order backlogs (2.1 months) matched the level of the previous month as well as the previous year. The chances of enforcing higher prices in the coming months will narrow, in the opinion of the surveyed contractors.