The Construction Confidence Index (ICST) rose 0.9 point in February, to 93.7 points, informed this Wednesday (23) the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV).
The high was not enough to recover the fall of 3.9 points registered in January.
The increase in the ICST was driven by the Expectations Index (IE-CST), which increased 2.7 points to 97.7 points, still below the December result (100.8).
At the openings, the forecast demand indicator rose 4.7 points to 101.1 points, and the six-month business trend index advanced 0.6 points to 94.2 points.
The Current Situation Index (PSI-CST), on the other hand, dropped 0.8 point to 89.9 points, the lowest level since July 2021 (89.4).
Among the components, the highlight was the drop of 1.4 points in the contract portfolio indicator, to 90.0 points, the lowest level since June last year (86.6 points).
The current business situation index dropped 0.2 points to 89.9 points.
The Installed Capacity Utilization Level (Nuci) of construction increased 0.3 percentage point in February, to 75.2%.
The result was driven by increases of 0.3 percentage point in the Nuci of labor, to 76.6%, and of 0.5 point in the Nuci of machinery and equipment, to 69.2%.
“Between January and February, there were no major changes in the sectorial scenario, so the rise in confidence in the month is surprising as it reflects more favorable short-term expectations. There was a perception that the pessimism of the previous month was exaggerated and, now, the indicator returns to a level that points to caution with the evolution of demand in the coming months”, says the coordinator of Construction Projects at Ibre/FGV, Ana Castelo, in note.
costs
In this reading, FGV found an increase in the proportion of companies reporting difficulties with raw material costs.
The ratio of companies that identified the issue as a problem went from 26.9% in January to 31.9% in February, after a peak of 40.3% in August 2021.
Source: CNN Brasil
I am Sophia william, author of World Stock Market. I have a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and I have worked as a reporter for several news websites. I have a passion for writing and informing people about the latest news and events happening in the world. I strive to be accurate and unbiased in my reporting, and I hope to provide readers with valuable information that they can use to make informed decisions.
