China Construction: Boom or Bust?
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March 15th, 2010 by Prieur du Plessis, Investment Postcards from Cape Town
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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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Dr. Prieur du Plessis is an investment professional with 26 years' experience in investment research and portfolio management. More than 1,200 of his articles on investment-related topics have been published in various regular newspaper, journal and Internet columns, including his blog, Investment Postcards from Cape Town. He has also published a book, Financial Basics: Investment. Prieur is Chairman and principal shareholder of South African-based Plexus Asset Management, which he founded in 1995. The group conducts investment management, investment consulting, private equity and real estate activities in South Africa and a number of foreign countries. He also serves as Honorary Consul of Slovenia for South Africa, actively developing economic, cultural and scientific relations between Slovenia and South Africa. Prieur is 54 years old and live with his wife, television producer and presenter Isabel Verwey, and two children in Cape Town, South Africa. His leisure activities include long-distance running, traveling, reading, motor-cycling and scripophily. Read more from the author/contributor here.
Tags: Advertisement, Agora Financial, Bust, China, China Construction, Chris Mayer, Construction Activity, Construction Boom, Emerging Markets, Global Construction, Heading, Highways, Mcquarie, Share Your Thoughts, Wsd
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