Economy
For civil engineering it goes up
The utilization in this area of the construction industry increases and could climb to a record level in the next two years. It looks much worse in building construction – because of the crisis in housing construction.
The German civil engineering companies are on their way to better times. In March, the utilization of their capacities increased by 2.5 points to 72.6 percent in March, as the Munich IFO Institute reports. The companies “worked again more often in the upper speed range,” says IFO expert Klaus Wohlrabe. And it could go upwards: In the next two years an increase can be expected in which the previous maximum of around 80 percent could be reached or even exceeded, according to the economic researchers.
The reason for this is the new federal infrastructure fund, which will provide additional demand in the coming years. However, a quick expansion of capacities in civil engineering, which includes road construction, is not to be expected – corresponding investments and adjustments needed time. “After all, the long -term funding period of twelve years creates planning security,” says Wohlrabe. “This could motivate companies to invest in a targeted manner in new capacities.”
Building construction significantly worse
In the past three years, the utilization has deteriorated significantly in both low and building construction. However, much stronger in building construction: there the current value is 62.1 percent. At the beginning of 2022 there were still 80 in both areas, the long -term average for both is just above 76. According to the IFO, the significantly worse situation in building construction is primarily due to the lack of order in housing construction. The load in March also increased a small piece in the building construction – just starting from a much worse value.
A simple balance between the two areas is not to be expected: “Located workers and machines from building construction to civil engineering is difficult,” says Wohlrabe. “If at all, this is conceivable for less specialized activities.”
According to the main association of the German construction industry, around 41 percent of the sales in the construction industry took civil engineering, 59 percent of the construction of construction last year.
dpa
Source: Stern
