Korea’s construction business a little bit bounced last month but remained deadly low to 72.0 reading based on the construction business survey index released out by the Construction Economy Research Institute of Korea. When the index points under the standard of 100 it means that more enterprises are pessimistic about the construction economy than optimistic ones. In January the index was down 8.5p to 67.0 sitting down around 60 in three months. In February the index returned to 70 yet remaining far away from the standard. The overall average was also lower than 75.1 between 2000 and 2023. The index climbed a little bit due to the seasonal effect in February when the construction orders tend to grow historically, but the index remained still at 70 only, indicating downturn, the Institute said. the new bookings rose 5.8p to 77.7 reading and completed construction was up 3.3p to 83.6 respectively. The gains reflected the seasonal recovery passingly, they added. By sector, the civil engineering climbed 63.p to 71.3, and non-residential construction up 7.7p to 74.7 but housing reading was down 1.7p to 65.8 implying that the housing business remains subdued. The March reading was forecast to rise 8.0p to 80.0 expecting to rise more than 5.0p which will help construction economy rebound modestly but it is necessary to look at the trends ahead further whether the reality comes back to 80, Construction Economy Research Institute of Korea research director Park Chul-han explained.
by swkim
