Hungary construction sector drops 1.5% yr/yr in Jan

Output of the building segment was down 0.9% year-on-year as a steady drop ongoing since February 2011 continued.


Output of the civil engineering segment dropped 2.6% in the twelve months to January after double-digit yr/yr rises in November and December 2011. 


In a month-on-month comparison, construction sector output declined 0.5% after a 4.1% decline in December, seasonally-adjusted figures show. 


Output of the building segment rose an adjusted 2.0% from December and civil engineering output fell 2.7% on the month. In December, seasonally adjusted building segment output dropped 5.6% on the month and civil engineering output rose 0.9%, KSH reported earlier. 


KSH noted that the sector's January production is about 40% below the monthly average. 


New orders arriving in January were up 49.3% in twelve months, thanks to some large-value contracts signed for hotels and commercial and logistics buildings and an exceptionally low base in the civil engineering segment. The yr/yr increase was the third one in a row after steady drops since July 2010. 


New orders in the building segment rose 56.4% yr/yr. They already rose in December after declining since October 2010. 


New civil engineering orders were up 37.2% yr/yr. New orders in the segment rose slightly over 10% both in December and November after yr/yr declines in the previous four months. 


Despite the sharp rise in new orders, total contracts held by the sector were still down by 30.4% yr/yr. The stock of orders has dropped steadily since August 2010. 


The stock of orders held for buildings was down 42.3% yr/yr in January and the stock of civil engineering orders dropped 20.7% in the period.


Hungary's construction sector output fell 7.8% in 2011. Output of the building segment fell 11.3% and output of the civil engineering segment was down 3.8% last year.


The sector's output has fallen every year since 2006.