Construction Market Slows... August CBSI at 89.4, Below 90 for the First Time in Six Months

Overall CBSI Trend

The construction industry, which showed a favorable performance in the first half of this year, appears to have experienced a slowdown in its recovery due to seasonal factors such as the heatwave.

On the 2nd, the Korea Construction Industry Research Institute (KICRI) announced that "the Construction Business Survey Index (CBSI) for August recorded 89.4, down 3.5 points (p) from the previous month."

If the CBSI falls below the baseline of 100, it means that more companies view the current construction market pessimistically than optimistically.

The CBSI showed a recovery trend in the first half of this year, surpassing the baseline (100) in May and June, indicating a favorable outlook. However, it dropped nearly 8 points in July and fell another 3.5 points in September, decreasing for two consecutive months and falling below the 90 mark for the first time in six months.

Researcher Park Cheol-han of KICRI stated, "The recovery of the construction market has somewhat stalled," adding, "This is analyzed to be due to a decrease in housing and civil engineering project orders compared to the previous month, influenced by seasonal factors such as the heatwave."

Typically, in August, the index declines by about 4 to 6 points due to seasonal factors like reduced project orders during the heatwave, and this effect is reflected in the current data.

In fact, the new orders and construction performance BSI each fell by 11.1 points and 12.5 points respectively compared to the previous month, indicating that project orders and progress were weaker than the previous month.

By construction type, the volume of housing and civil engineering projects was somewhat adjusted.

Although the recovery trend in the construction market has somewhat stalled, it is difficult to conclude that the construction market has declined.

The CBSI for September is forecasted to increase by 18.5 points from August to 107.9.

Researcher Park said, "Most construction companies expect the construction market to improve again in September."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.