SA’s construction industry turned deeply pessimistic in the final quarter of 2016, a poll of civil engineering firms by Stellenbosch University’s Bureau for Economic Research released on Tuesday showed. The First National Bank (FNB) sponsored civil confidence index tumbled to 35 points in the fourth quarter from 52 points in the third quarter. This equates to only 35% of civil engineers being satisfied with industry conditions now compared with more than half in the third quarter. Despite the government’s recent commitment to invest more than R900bn in infrastructure over the next three years, there had been a reduction in government contracts in the industry, FNB senior economic analyst Jason Muscat said. Construction work by the private sector, mainly mining, was probably also lower during the quarter. "This was a perfect storm. The weaker activity as well as increased tendering price competition took its toll on overall profitability. In fact, the index measuring profitability de...
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