Friday, September 7, 2012

Australian Construction Contracting Faster

Australian Construction Contracts Fastest Pace in 11 Mths
The construction performance index fell to 32.2 last month from 32.6 in July, a survey by the Australian Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association released in Sydney today showed. A reading below 50 represents a contraction.
“The near-term outlook for the construction sector deteriorated with a further fall in new orders,” said Peter Burn, the Australian Industry Group’s director of public policy, said in a statement. “The drop-off in new orders was particularly sharp for engineering construction and the apartment sub-sector.”
Thus begins the vicious cycle.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest miner, last month decided to delay approval of an estimated $33 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper, uranium and gold mine in South Australia. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG), Australia’s biggest iron ore producer after Rio Tinto Group and BHP, this week cut its full-year capital spending forecast by 26 percent to $4.6 billion.
China's manufacturing sector entered contraction too.

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