Construction (Germany):
Prices under pressure

The slight worsening of the business situation in construction resulted from poorer assessments in civil engineering whereas in structural engineering there was no change reported in an otherwise unsatisfactory business situation. For both sectors, the six-month outlook brightened somewhat, however, particularly in commercial construction. With moderate building activity, the equipment utilisation rate was the same as in the previous month, but at 69% was two percentage points under the comparable previous-year month. Also the range of order stocks (2.5 months) remained unchanged (just as large one year ago). The share of contractors that complained of insufficient orders increased to 28%. Price increases do not seem likely in the coming months. According to the survey results, staff levels will increase only slightly at most. In eastern Germany in the evaluations of the current situation the negative responses again clearly offset the positive ones. Equipment utilisation declined by two percentage points to 72%. The range of order backlogs remained at 2.1 months, but dissatisfaction with the order situation increased again. Construction prices are expected to remain stable.