The volume of construction in Italy increased by 0.2% in September

Construction volumes in Italy in September 2023 increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month. This is stated in a press release from the Italian Statistical Office (Istat).

On a year-on-year basis, the calendar-adjusted construction index remained unchanged, while the unadjusted index decreased by 3.4%.

In the third quarter of 2023, the seasonally adjusted index of production in construction in Italy increased by 0.8% compared to the previous quarter.

At the same time, in January-September, the calendar-adjusted index decreased by 2.0%, and the unadjusted index – by 2.4%.

Production in the construction sector of the European Union in September 2023 increased by 0.5% compared to the previous month. Compared to September 2022, seasonally adjusted production in EU construction increased by 0.1%.

Construction of engineering structures in the EU increased by 1.1% m/m and 2.8% y/y over the month, while construction of buildings (residential and non-residential) increased by 0.3% m/m and decreased by 0.1% y/y.

The stagnation of the EU construction sector has a negative impact on demand and sentiment in the domestic long products market. Since the end of 2020, construction in the European Union has been in a long recovery period due to significant government support, which stimulated demand for steel products, but since the beginning of this year, according to steelmakers, the European construction sector has been suffering from macroeconomic problems and market uncertainty.

According to Eurofer forecasts, in 2023 volumes of construction in the EU will decrease by a moderate 0.5% and recover to +0.7% in 2024. In 2022 volume of production in construction EU sector grew by 4.8%. In the fourth quarter, this indicator decreased by 0.2% year-on-year.