Picture du Jour: Chinese construction – boom or bubble?

By Prieur du Plessis, on March 13th, 2010 posted in: China, Economy

It would not take too much guessing to figure out where the bulk of the world’s construction activity is taking place. Of course, it is in China, but who would have thought global construction would decline from a year-on-year rate of almost 20% to close to zero once China is stripped out? This is what the fascinating chart below by CRU, WSD and Mcquarie Research (via Agora Financial’s 5 Min Forecast) highlights.

“The Chinese are laying highways like nobody’s business,” added Agora’s Chris Mayer. “By the end of 2008, China had an estimated 60,000 km of highway. The US has 75,000 km. Over the next few years, China plans to have 85,000 km of roads.”

Is building activity in China a boom or a bubble? Please share your thoughts with readers by posting a comment. (Click on “Comments” below the heading of this post and type away.)

Source: Agora Financial’s 5 Min Forecast, March 10, 2010.

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Tal

March 14, 2010 at 4:24 am

Nice chart. would like to see the breakdowns of construction
US
Europe
Asia
China
Residential Single family
Residential Multi family
Hotels
Commercial
Industrial
Major High Rise office buildings
Highway/road construction
RR road construction
In China: how much related to replacement housing due to the construction of the Dam – I understand they underestimated by a couple million people –
Along with “Under construction”, I’d like to see the trend of vacency of homes, apartments, condo’s, hotels, office sq footage in past 3 years and forecasts fr next three years.