Australia AI/HIA Aug Construction Index Slows from July Record

By John Carter

     SYDNEY (MNI)  - AI Group/Housing Industry Association Performance of

Construction Index (Australian PCI) for August published Thursday.

                               August    Change from Previous Month

     Australian PCI             55.3               -5.2

     Overall Activity           54.0               -4.3

     Activity - Houses          56.5               -5.9

     Activity - Apartments      44.7               -7.9

     Activity - Commercial      50.2              -14.1

     Activity - Engineering     58.0               +0.5

     New Orders                 57.5               -7.1

     Employment                 51.5               -7.5

     Deliveries                 59.7               +0.5

     Input Prices               70.5               -3.1 

     Selling Prices             57.2               -1.9

     Wages                      65.3               +0.7

     Capacity Utilization (%)   77.7               +0.1 

     The construction industry index eased back in August after its record

reading in July, with activity continuing to expand, but at a slower pace.

Activity in all four subsectors declined. Engineering construction and house

building were the main drivers of growth in August. Engineering construction

continued to expand strongly, boosted by increased government spending on

infrastructure projects. The pace of house building remained strong in August,

though it eased off from the 4.5-year high posted the month before. 

     The drop in August activity was led by the commercial and

apartment-building subsectors, with a "stabilization" of commercial construction

at 50.2, while apartment building returned to negative territory after a "mild"

upturn in July, according to the report. 

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: rich.dirks@marketnews.com