Last month, the construction industry business sentiment index (CBSI) felt by corporations slightly increased from the previous month. However, it still fell below the baseline of 100.
According to the Korea Institute of Construction Technology on the 8th, last month, the CBSI was recorded at 68.1, up 0.7 points from the previous month. A CBSI below the baseline of 100 means that there are more corporations viewing the current construction market pessimistically than those viewing it optimistically. The opposite is true if it is above 100.
Lee Ji-hye, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology, said, “The CBSI has remained in the 60 range in March following February, indicating that the sluggish construction market sentiment continues.”
By institutional sector, the construction completion index (73.0) and the order backlog index (70.0) each increased by 0.6 points and 2.1 points from the previous month. During the same period, the new order index (60.7) dropped by 0.1 points, the construction payment index (76.1) fell by 2.6 points, the financing index (70.2) decreased by 1.4 points, and the materials supply index (84.1) dropped by 7.7 points.
By type of construction, the new order index for the housing sector (66.0) rose by 4.4 points from the previous month, while the civil engineering sector (54.0) and the non-residential construction sector (59.5) fell by 9.9 points and 0.4 points, respectively.
By corporation size, the indexes for large corporations (83.3) and small and medium-sized enterprises (56.4) increased by 3.3 points and 1.9 points, respectively, but the index for medium enterprises (64.5) fell by 3.2 points.
Regionally, the Seoul index (82.3) rose by 8.5 points, while the provincial index (55.9) decreased by 7.7 points. The outlook index for the current month was surveyed at 70.3, 2.2 points higher than the performance index from last month.