Grows optimism in civil construction
Folha de S. Paulo - 03/04/2008
The real estate crisis in the United States has not affected the mood of the businessmen of the sector of civil construction in Brazil. What happened was quite the opposite. The sector has never before been so optimistic about the future. According to the 34th Construction Survey, made by the Sinduscon-SP (Union of the Construction Industry of the State of São Paulo) and the FGV Projetos (FGV Projects), the index that calculates the perspectives of performance of the construction companies reached, in February, the mark of 61.1 points, an increase of 12.2% compared to the same month of last year and 2.1% compared to the last survey's index, from three months ago. It was the first time the index surpassed the line of 60 points since the survey started being made, in 1999. According to its methodology, up to 50 points means pessimism. Above that means optimism. The survey interviewed 238 businesspeople from the civil construction sector all over the country during February. The same survey's data also confirm this optimism. According to the survey, the company performance index, which corresponds to the current moment of the sector, reached 57.6 points, an increase of 19.6% in relation to February, 2007, and 4.7% compared to last December. The forecasts on the volume of business and on the profitability of the sector have also improved, with growth of 21.2% and 14.1% compared to February, 2007. The study also shows the entrepreneurs are more confident that the growth of the economy will be repeated this year. For 29.5% of those interviewed, the Brazilian GDP will grow satisfactorily, which may contribute for the sales of the sector. For the President of Sinduscon-SP, João Claudio Robusti, these figures reflect the good moment of the sector and of the economy of the country. According to Robusti, the civil construction industry sector grew 7.9% last year, and, for this year, an expansion of 10.2% is expected. "This year's growth is already guaranteed", affirms the President of Sinduscon-SP.