Saturday, May 11th, 2013
SEOUL, KOREA - The first-quarter domestic construction order volume has dropped 35 percent from the same period last year, the largest decline since the 1998 Asian financial crisis. According to figures announced by the Construction Association of Korea on May 9, the amount of orders booked for the first quarter of this year within Korea was 16,514.9 billion won, down 35.1 percent from the same quarter in 2012.
By segment, the public sector saw its volume dwindle 9.0 percent to 6,571.8 billion won. For the civil engineering sector, the volume has decreased 14.8 percent due to a cut in social overhead capital investment. As for the architecture segment, the size has risen 3.7 percent largely owing to an increase in non-residential construction orders such as office buildings, stores, factories, and schools.
The largest drop was experienced in the civilian sector with the order volume of only 9,943.1 billion, a 45.5-percent decline from the first quarter in 2012. Kang Kyung-wan, senior manager in charge of construction statistics for the Construction Association of Korea, said, "Since late last year, the trend toward low orders has continued. In terms of statistical figure, this is the worst time ever for us since the 1998 financial crisis. We are now looking forward to positive effects in the latter half of the April 1 housing market stimulation measure, the revised supplementary budget spending, and the rate cut."