Construction: Business Climate Indicator in Civil Engineering Hits Record High

The business climate in construction improved for the third consecutive month in June. The indicator value rose to a new record. The contractors surveyed assessed their current business situation more favourably than ever. The six-month business outlook, however, clouded over marginally. Although the degree of machinery capacity utilisation dropped by half a percentage point to 74.7%, it remained above last year’s value of 72.9%. Like the same period last year, 28% of the contractors surveyed reported constraints on their construction output. While 13% of survey participants complained of a lack of orders (June 2015: 19%), 9% reported negative weather effects (June 2015: 2%) and 6% cited a lack of qualified workers. The order backlog rose to 3.3 months – its highest value since data collection for Germany as a whole. In June 2015 the backlog was half a month smaller. According to firm data, the price increases implemented were in line with those seen in recent months. Reports by contractors also suggest that there should be considerable scope for price increases in the months ahead. A higher number of survey participants expect their staff bases to grow in the short term in June.