European construction industry will see weaker growth in the future

Construction in Europe will see weaker growth in the period 2023–2025. Residential construction in particular – in Italy and many other European countries – is facing considerable headwinds, according to the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat.

This is evident from calculations by the EUROCONSTRUCT forecasting network, of which the ifo Institute is a member. “Resilience will be greatest in civil engineering,” says ifo expert Ludwig Dorffmeister.

After two superb years, the prospects for European housing construction have become much bleaker. Construction activity will fall by almost 3 percent overall in the period 2023–2024 before picking up again slightly in 2025. The current year will see a 2 percent reduction in new build volume as a result of the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine. In contrast, the downturn in work on existing buildings in 2023 and 2024 is driven largely by the reduction in the previously extremely generous state subsidies for renovation in Italy. “In most European countries, however, the recent energy price shock will likely lead to more investments in existing housing,” Dorffmeister says.

“Civil engineering volumes face a series of major challenges,” he adds. Necessary investment in energy supply, expansion of the transportation network, and public transit will trigger civil engineering growth of 2.9 percent in 2023, 1.8 percent in 2024, and 2.2 percent in 2025. Italy, Norway, Slovakia, and Poland are expected to see the largest increases. Only in Finland will the market shrink.

In Germany, pressure is mounting in new home construction. “The main reasons for this include significant increases in housing loan rates, sharp rises in construction costs, and the reduction in federal subsidies for new home construction,” Dorffmeister says. The results of the ifo survey in December showed that order backlogs, while still at a high level, fell for the fifth month in a row. The new orders the industry sorely needs failed to materialize. “There’s been a drastic deterioration in conditions for private developers and housing companies,” Dorffmeister says.

Nevertheless, the industry’s long lead times will likely temper the impact of this development on construction activity for now. In particular the finishing trade will remain busy in the months ahead due to capacity bottlenecks.

We remind, S-Oil plans to construct this for $7 bn between 2023 and mid-2026. The undertaking is regarded as the biggest outside investment in South Korea. S-Oil is owned 63.4% by Saudi Aramco. The new facility will house a steam cracker for 1.8 M tonnes/y of ethylene and be able to generate up to 3.2 M tonnes/y of petrochemical products after this project is finished. The plants will be built as part of an EPC contract by the South Korean construction firms Hyundai Engineering, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and Lotte Engineering & Construction.

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TCI Sanmar Chemicals is planning to invest USD15 M in 2023 in Egypt for boosting its production capacity for calcium chloride and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by employing four new production lines with an overall capacity of 225,000 tonnes/y, said the company.

According to the chairman of the company, PVC production is anticipated to increase to 350,000 tonnes by Mar 2023 compared to 245,000 tonnes achieved in 2021.

Full capacity of 400,000 tonnes is anticipated to be reached by end-2023. The chairman also announced that the company is targeting sales revenue of USD550-600 M in 2023.

Recently, the company has inked an MoU with the Saudi Ministry of Investment for the supply of vinyl chloride, a key raw material for PVC production. The company is also intending to create a loading station in El-Gamil area in Port Said worth USD160 M to import ethylene and export its products. TCI Sanmar Chemicals is a wholly-owned Egyptian subsidiary of Sanmar Group.

We remind, Chemplast Sanmar Ltd., a chemicals manufacturer based in India has reported financial results for the period ended March 31, 2022. The company’s net profit declined by 36.4% to Rs 2.31 billion for the period ended March 31, 2022 as against Rs 3.64 billion for the period ended March 31, 2021. Net sales increased by 34.4% to Rs 18.15 billion during the period ended March 31, 2022 as compared to Rs 13.50 billion during the period ended March 31, 2021.

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Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) announced, Jan. 18, the 100% acquisition of Motiva Trading by Aramco Trading Co. (ATC), and the launch of Aramco Trading Americas LLC (ATA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ATC based in Houston, Texas, said Argaam.

ATA will be ATC’s regional office, expanding its trading business in North and South America to capture new opportunities and increase its existing customer base, Saudi Aramco said in an emailed statement to Argaam.

Under the purchase agreement, ATA will be the sole supplier and “offtaker” of Motiva Enterprises. The latter owns North America’s largest refinery with a crude refining capacity of 630,000 barrels a day, producing consumer and commercial-grade fuels and base oils.

With the launch of ATA, ATC brings its business closer to customers and provides them with significant access to the world’s robust hydrocarbon system. This will, in turn, substantially strengthen its value chain globally.

In May 2022, Bloomberg cited unnamed sources as saying that Saudi Aramco was studying to offer ATC’s shares to the public, Argaam reported.

According to Reuters, Saudi Aramco was said in June 2022 to be planning for a merger between Motiva Trading and ATC’s energy trading units, ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) of the business.

We remind, Saudi Aramco and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) have signed a deal to build a refinery and a petrochemicals plant in China. The 3,20,000 barrels-per-day refinery and 1.5 million tons-per-year petrochemical cracker complex will be in operation by the end of 2025

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Portugal-based plastic film and packaging producer Evertis hosted customers and supporters during a mid-December 2022 tour of its new production facility in Monterrey, Mexico, said Recyclingtoday.

Evertis, which describes itself as a producer of mono- and multilayer semirigid barrier films for food packaging and other applications, has announced a target of using 50 percent recycled content by 2025. In 2021, the firm says it consumed more than 30,400 metric tons of scrap materials, including more than 9,300 metric tons of postconsumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) companywide.

The facility in Monterrey has an annual capacity of over 22,000 tons and, in 2023, “will further expand to 36,000 tons,” says Evertis. The company says it chose to invest in the new manufacturing site “to enhance its strong leadership position in Mexico and growing presence in the United States and Canada."

The December event was attended by Madalena Matos Gil, who Evertis describes as “the matriarch of the family-owned business.” Also in attendance were “clients, suppliers, partners and media,” according to the company.

Evertis has had a presence in Mexico for more than 20 years, the company says, adding, “The Monterrey manufacturing facility is well positioned to support strong growth in high barrier materials and, through the introduction of new products, penetration into new end use segments such as medical and pharmaceutical packaging."

Evertis operates facilities in Portugal, Brazil, Mexico and Italy and is part of the IMG Group, which includes its sister company Selenis, a producer of co-polyester resins used in a variety of applications.

We remind, PureCycle Technologies Inc. and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges have announced that PureCycle will build its first polypropylene (PP) recycling facility in Europe at the port’s NextGen District in Belgium. The Orlando, Florida-based company says it expects the new plant to have an annual capacity of 59,000 metric tons, with opportunities to expand operations down the road since the 34-acre plot can support up to four processing lines, increasing total capacity to around 240,000 metric tons per year.

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BP PLC on Wednesday revealed plans to evaluate the construction of an ammonia cracker in Wilhelmshaven, Germany and utilize repurposed oil/gas facilities to transport hydrogen, said the company.

The project, which would be located in Wilhelmshaven, is expected to include an industry leading ammonia cracker which could provide up to 130,000 tons of low-carbon hydrogen from green ammonia, per year, from 2028.

Green ammonia – produced by combining nitrogen with hydrogen derived from the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources – is expected to be shipped from bp green hydrogen projects around the world to Wilhelmshaven. The cracker converts the green ammonia into green hydrogen by splitting the larger molecule into its smaller nitrogen and hydrogen components which can then be used directly. It’s anticipated that up to 130,000 tons of hydrogen per year could be produced from the site, with scope for further expansion as the market for future fuels develops.

Patrick Wendeler, chief executive of bp Europa SE, said: “At bp we have the expertise and capacity to cover the entire value chain of green hydrogen production, including conversion into derivates like ammonia, transport, and then reconversion to supply green hydrogen to the customers and places who need it. This development would help create greater energy independence for our German customers across a range of low carbon energy products. Wilhelmshaven has a proud energy history, and we hope this hydrogen hub can help carve out its next chapter and help Germany meet its energy transition goals."

bp’s plans include utilising the existing infrastructure of the Nord-West Oelleitung (NWO) terminal at Wilhelmshaven, where it is a participating shareholder. With its deep-water harbour and pipeline system, Wilhelmshaven is one of the country’s most important energy terminals and is well positioned to support energy transition activities.

Additionally, bp’s plans propose to utilise the current oil & gas pipelines for use in hydrogen transport. The low-carbon hydrogen could then be delivered to customers in the Ruhr region and other centres of demand.

The proposed project is the latest in a string of hydrogen proposals in the country from bp. It follows the H2 Nukleus and Lingen Green Hydrogen concepts. Together, they are anticipated to help Germany reduce CO2 emissions in energy-intensive areas such as chemicals and steel production.

We remind, Johnson Matthey and bp plc (London) announced that their technology has enabled Fulcrum’s Sierra BioFuels Plant to successfully produce synthetic crude oil for clean transportation fuels. Using JM and bp’s FT CANS technology, the Sierra plant is the world’s first commercial-scale plant to use household rubbish as a feedstock which would otherwise be destined for landfill. Located outside of Reno, Nevada, it uses JM and bp’s FT CANS technology to convert waste into synthesis gas, which can then be converted to fuels.

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