The figures presented by the Éforo Foundation express a significant drop in public works throughout the country of around 83% year-on-yearconsidering the period January-October 2024. The main interference of the national State in state infrastructure was in the routes: more than 70% of what was executed, with an amount close to $63,816 millionwere destined for the National Highway Directorate, headed by Marcelo Jorge Campoy, whose main areas were “Network maintenance by administration” and “Works in road corridors.”
With respect to the most affected provinces, the report indicates that both Rioja ($1,352 million in 2024) as Saint Louis ($996 million) were the one with the greatest contraction in real terms: 97% for the first and 94% for the second. In Patagonia, Chubut and Holy Cross They also had sharp drops in real investment, which reached 90% and 93%. The districts in the center of the country were no exception: city of Buenos Aires had 82% less spending on public works, while in the province of Buenos Aires that index reached 89%.
Construction employment at “historically low” levels
According to the construction situation report carried out by the Institute of Statistics and Registration of the Construction Industry (IERIC), as of October, 357,070 jobs in the industry, amount slightly higher than the previous month (+0.3%).
Although they are already completed four consecutive months in positive territoryOctober was marked by a noticeable slowdown in the month-on-month growth rate in relation to the previous two months.
“The recomposition of employment, although it represents positive progress, occurs in a context with historically low levels. The current record It is 12.5% below the average for the months of October in the period 2010-2019and only surpasses that of the year with the greatest impact of the crisis caused by the pandemic,” indicates the study.
The sale of construction supplies remains in the red
The sale of construction supplies at the end of 2024 fell 6.6% year-on-year in December and 1.2% in relation to November on a seasonally adjusted basisaccording to the Construya Index (IC). This indicator measures the evolution of the volumes sold to the private sector of construction products manufactured by the companies that comprise it.
The apparent consumption data of the construction supplies in November 2024 show, in relation to the same month of the previous year, drops of up to 46.9% in ceramic sanitary ware; followed by round iron and steels for construction (-34.8%); hollow bricks (- 34.5%); granite and calcareous mosaics (-30.5%); and so (-30.4%); ceramic floors and coverings (-28.7%); plasterboard (-26.3%); manufactured concrete (-25.1%); in the rest of the inputs (includes faucets, seamless steel tubes and construction glass -20.6%); portland cement (-14.7%); construction paints (-5%); and in limes (-1.5%). At the far end, an increase of 22.4% is observed in asphalt.
Source: Ambito
