U.S. construction spending highest in nearly five years

WASHINGTON - U.S. construction spending rose to its highest level in nearly five years in November as a surge in private construction projects offset a drop in public outlays.

Construction spending increased 1 percent to an annual rate of $934.4 billion, the highest level since March 2009, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. It was the eighth straight month that construction spending increased.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a gain of 0.6 percent in November. Construction spending in October was revised to show a 0.9 percent rise instead of the previously reported 0.8 percent increase.

The report added to data ranging from employment to consumer spending that have suggested resilience in the economy even as growth is expected to step down from the third-quarter's brisk 4.1 percent annual rate.

Construction spending in November was lifted by a jump in private construction projects to their highest level since December 2008. Private construction spending rose 2.2 percent after being flat in October.

The increase reflected strong gains in spending on both residential and nonresidential projects. Private residential spending hit its highest level since June 2008 and outlays on nonresidential structures, which include factories and gas pipelines, touched an 11-month high.

Public construction spending fell 1.8 percent as both outlays on federal and state and local government projects declined.

source: interaksyon.com

Construction industry forecasts 8 pct growth this year

MANILA - The construction industry this year expects to grow eight percent or faster than the economy, with public and private sector projects seen giving the sector a boost, the Philippine Constructors Association Inc (PCA) said on Tuesday.

With “prospects both at home and abroad looking a bit better” this year, PCA said the construction industry is poised to grow faster than the 6-7 percent economic target set by the government for 2013.

“The staggering increase in public construction investments in 2012—reinforced by conducive macroeconomic conditions, government’s ability to further boost infrastructure expenditures, the growing electricity demand, and the 2013 midterm elections-related spending—will provide a blistering momentum to the construction sector in 2013,” PCA said.

“The increased growth of the private sector in real estate development supported by low interest rates will likewise contribute to the sector’s expansion,” it added.

The sustained growth of the tourism and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors, the strong inflows of remittances from Filipinos abroad, as well as the rollout of the Aquino administration's public-private partnership (PPP) initiative are also expected to result in a construction boom.

“Increasing activities in these growth drivers would result in more civil construction works such as office buildings, roads and bridges, facilities for utilities, and the like,” PCA said.

Citing National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) data, PCA said the construction sector last year grew 14.4 percent or more than double the 6.6-percent growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) that year.

 The industry contributed P345 billion to the economy, higher than the P302 billion in 2011 and beating the P325 billion in 2010. The sector increased its share to GDP to 5.5 percent last year from 5.1 percent in 2011.

“[Last year’s] phenomenal growth was mainly caused by the upsurge in government spending on infrastructure, and sustained growth in private construction,” PCA said in its 2012 report.

Construction in 2011 declined mainly because of government under-spending amid delays in the Aquino administration's PPP program.

Last year, “[o]ne of the biggest contributors to the increased government spending is the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),” PCA said.

“Since 2011, the department is committed to increase its expenditures to provide quality infrastructure facilities such as national roads, bridges, and major flood control projects. For 2013, more big-ticket infrastructure projects, including strategic tourism road projects, will be funded by the DPWH, allocating a total of P140 billion for the year—a staggering 40-percent climb from last year," the industry lobby said.

"Moreover, it is expected that public construction will continue to boost the sector in the next three years as the DPWH’s rally will be sustained to garner more than P600-billion capital outlays by the end of 2016,” PCA said.

source: interaksyon.com

More on the Nano Coat anti-heat solution

MANILA, Philippines - In the past two years, Trendway’s Nano Coat has been used in more than a hundred residential and non-residential projects.

The projects included St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City, Makati Medical Center, City Garden Hotel, Marco Resort Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City, the newly completed Supima Mall, Universal Motors Corp., Nissan car showroom in Cabanatuan City, Dunkin Donuts stores in Tacloban and Ormoc cities, and the most recent, the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa in Malaysia.

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Nano Coat is in use in more than 40 countries, including the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia, Japan, and Korea, and in the Middle East and Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia.

Nano Coat is showcased at the ongoing Philconstruct 2012 at the SMX Convention Center.

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source: philstar.com

DOTC eyes World Bank loan, seeks consultants for Cebu bus rapid transit

MANILA - The Department of Transportation and Communication is eyeing a loan from the World Bank to finance the construction of a bus rapid transit service in Cebu.

In a statement, the DOTC said the BRT system - the first of its kind in the Philippines - is patterned after those in Bogota, Colombia; Curitiba, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; and Guangzhou, China.

The Cebu BRT system will have 176 buses that will run through dedicated and exclusive bus-ways from Bulacao to Talamban, with a link to the South Road Property.

The service will benefit 330,000 passengers a day when it starts operations in 2015.

The buses will also traverse Cebu City’s business districts, residential areas, shopping centers and key tourist sites. It will have 33 stations along the corridor, with buses arriving at each station every 2-5 minutes.

The DOTC is inviting bids for consultancy services for the BRT project, which will have 2 phases, namely:

- Detailed engineering design and preparation of bidding documents for the engineering, structural, civil, architectural, electrical and mechanical design; and

- Supervision of the transit way and the supporting infrastructure during the construction.

source: interaksyon.com

DMCI Holdings expects 10% earnings growth in 2012

MANILA - DMCI Holdings Inc. sees earnings growing by a tenth this year to a "little below" P11 billion, barring any bad news from China, the company's president said on Wednesday.

This is slower than the 22-percent rise in net income last year to P9.6 billion.

Isidro Consunji said coal operations of Semirara Mining Corp. may be flat for the year on lower prices. The contribution of its coal business rose by 63 percent to P2.38 billion last year.

"Hopefully, the increased income of the power operations will somewhat offset the reduction of price of coal," Consunji said.

Semirara is set to begin the operation of a 300-megawatt power plant in Calaca in the next few days after "technical problems" delayed its rehabilitation by two months.

Earnings of property firm DMCI Project Developers Inc. is "doing very well," but the rate of increase will not be as huge because of the bigger base. The housing segment raised its contribution by 40 percent to P1.3 billion in 2011.

DMCI Mining Corp. is looking at acquiring "several" nickel mines within a year given the current direction of Benguet to operate on its own and the Acoje mining operations with European Nickel looking to follow suit.

Construction arm D.M. Consunji Inc. expects additional projects as it benefits from the property boom, while the impact of the government roll out of its public-private partnership projects may kick in next year.

source: interaksyon.com

Minnesota House amends, approves Vikings' stadium plan

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The Minnesota House has approved a plan to build a $975 million stadium for the Vikings, but with a big boost in what the team would pay.

The amended plan that passed 73-58 Monday night would raise the Vikings' share to $532 million, or about 55 percent of construction costs. That knocks about $105 million off the state's contribution.

The team has said it wouldn't pay more than $427 million.

The Senate will consider its own version of the bill. Differences would be worked out in a conference committee.

Discussion on the House floor was overshadowed at times by the chants of Vikings boosters rallying in the rotunda outside. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Vikings players, including quarterback Christian Ponder, fired up purple-clad fans, who chanted, "Build it!"

Ponder drew cheers when he said, "I want to be here in Minnesota for the rest of my life."

The Vikings have pushed for a new stadium for more than a decade, but their efforts went nowhere until their lease at the Metrodome expired. Rep. Morrie Lanning, the bill's sponsor, said the team likely would leave the state if the legislation fails.

"Whatever you think of this bill, this is our one chance," said Rep. John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove. "This bill works, it's been fine-tuned and it will build a stadium."

The Vikings will play the upcoming season at the Metrodome, but are free to leave after that. The team hasn't threatened to move, but fans fear they could relocate to Los Angeles or another city seeking its own football team.

"If they don't do it now, they're out in L.A. by next year, or someplace else," said J.P. Charney, 24, of Minnetonka, who came to the Capitol with his brother to support a new stadium.

Dayton made the stadium issue his top priority last fall, urging lawmakers to act to avoid losing a valuable asset. Dayton has also touted the thousands of jobs that stadium construction would bring.

The governor has acted as lead cheerleader for the project, joining in chants of "Build it!" in a raucous rotunda rally with construction workers before the House debate Monday.

"Minnesota's a can-do state," he told the crowd. "We've been successful because we say, 'Yes we're going to move ahead. Yes, we're going to create more jobs. Yes, we're going to do the things we want to do to remain vital and strong.'"

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said stadium supporters picked up momentum after fans and construction workers mobilized to support the project over the weekend. Dayton appeared at rallies at the Mall of America on Saturday and a Minneapolis sports bar on Sunday.

"I feel that the numbers are close and the numbers are moving in our direction," said Rybak, who has been lobbying legislators for the project.

One Democrat, Rep. Ryan Winkler, announced Sunday he was changing his "no" vote to "yes" because he saw the stadium as the only job-producing project likely to come out of the Legislature this session.

source: aol.sportingnews.com