Uncertainty impacts French construction sector

Sentiment among French construction companies is now stable after deteriorating in recent months but the firms surveyed see a negative performance in their future and past activity.

Fewer companies than last month can predict the future evolution of the market due to the current uncertainty, Kallanish learns from a l’Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (Insee) report.

This month, fewer contractors than last month consider their order books to be higher than average and have orders for over eight months of work. Production capacity has been stable in April. More construction firms than last month reported slowing output because of supply difficulties.

More companies report being at the limit of their production capacity (production bottlenecks), meaning they could not produce more with their current means if they were to receive more orders. Fewer companies than in March will increase their prices over the next three months.

The French rebar market is going through a weak patch and is extremely quiet, with prices stable but sales volumes low in April. Uncertainty is causing construction companies to purchase small quantities and adopt a wait-and-see attitude. This is impacting production as local output has been reducing significantly this month, sources tell Kallanish.

Natalia Capra France