The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2019 | Page 14

WORLD NEWS
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced
that his government is to spend EUR11-billion on
its road network over the next five years. The aim is
ensure that all Hungarian roads are within a 30-minute
drive of a dual carriageway. The government says it
wants to ensure that all county capitals were accessible
by freeway, and that all freeways reached the national
border. One high priority project is the building of
a motorway to Debrecen’s north-western economic
area, the future home of a BMW plant, for which the
of growth for concrete equipment was becoming ‘less
dynamic’ after four years of growth. Sales in Europe
grew by 17% in 2018 but there was a wide difference
between northern and southern countries. France and
Germany had 9% and 14% growth respectively but
Italy and Spain had 23% and 60% growth respectively.
Looking at product groups, truck mixer sales and
batching plant sales were particularly strong, with
growth rates over 10%.
Looking globally, the CECE said that Europe ‘slightly
underperformed’ in 2018 as worldwide equipment sales
grew by a fifth. It attributed this to the recovery of
emerging markets, led by China and India. Sales in Latin
America recovered with a rise of 15% but Brazil, notably,
was not part of this trend. North America and Oceania had
growth rates of about 20% but the Middle East and Africa
saw declining sales. The CECE forecasts global equipment
sales growth of 5% to 10% in 2019, subject to there being
no trade wars. nn
government has given a grant of USD450-million.
As well as roads, Hungary intends to spend USD346-
million on upgrades to its power network, and USD250-
million on improvements to rail.
This is in addition to Hungary’s embrace of China’s Belt
and Road Initiative is bearing fruit, with a large state-owned
contractor signalling an intention to set up headquarters
there and invest up to EUR1-billion. The contractor is
railway and power plant builder China National Machinery
Import and Export Corporation. nn
Hungary plans to upgrade its road infrastructure
12 | CEC July 2019
www.civilsonline.co.za
Europe’s latest Committee for European Construction
Equipment (CECE) Annual Economic Report shows that
the construction industry market peaked in 2017 and
that the mining industry was still recovering, but maybe
slowing, in 2018.
For the construction industry the CECE reported that a
growth period from 2008 to 2018 reached a high level of
growth of 4.1% in 2017. This fell to 2.8% growth in 2018 and
is forecast to drop to 2% growth in 2019. It put this in terms of
the sector having a cyclical nature, which is usually about eight
years. This means it believes a downturn is overdue.
Slowing gross domestic product (GDP) growth and
tighter financial and monetary conditions are expected
to drag on the residential sector. The non-residential side
is growing by more than 1.5% in Europe but has started
to follow the residential sector. It also notes the ‘very
poor’ performance of the infrastructure sector due to
government under-investment.
The construction equipment sector saw sales rise by
11% in 2018, bringing it to only 10% below the high
recorded in 2007. The CECE reported that the rate