Oz growth

Australia: Spending on engineering construction in Australia will continue to outpace other economic sectors, according to the latest forecast by the Australian Construction Industry Forum's Construction Forecasting Council (CFC).

The report forecasts average annual growth of +9.3% in engineering construction (infrastructure work) from fiscal 2005 to 2007, compared with +1% for residential construction and +4.6% for non-residential construction.

The engineering and construction sector had previously seen record annual growth of +9.6%. This slow decline in the rate of growth is expected to continue from 2005 to 2010, averaging +4.4% a year, compared with +7.2% for the residential sector and +4.2% for non-residential construction.

Long-term forecasts for 2005 to 2013 predict +4.8% growth in engineering construction spending, +6.1% for residential and +4.4% for non-residential. The CFC's forecast found that electricity, pipeline and heavy industry (including mining) would be the “star performers” in engineering construction growth both in the short and long terms. However, spending on construction of bridges, railways and ports would fall in the short term, with poor growth in the long term.