Construction Confidence rises 1.4 points in August, to 98.2 points, says FGV

The Construction Confidence Index (ICST) advanced 1.4 point in August, to 98.2 points, informed this Friday (26), Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). On quarterly moving averages, the index rose 0.6 point.

“Despite a more favorable perception of the current situation and despite the latest measures aimed at the social housing segment, expectations are more pessimistic than a year ago, which signals a still challenging scenario ahead”, says the Projects coordinator. of Construction at FGV, Ana Maria Castelo, in a note.

“The infrastructure segment registered the biggest drop in the indicator in the interannual comparison, which may be a result of the perspective of a slowdown in investments related to the electoral cycle.”

In the openings, the Current Situation Index (ISA-CST) advanced 1.6 points, to 96.4 points, the highest level since May 2014 (97.6). The result was driven by the rise of 3.9 points in the current business situation indicator, to 96.2. The volume of the contract backlog dropped 0.8 point, to 96.5 points.

The Expectations Index (EI-CST), in turn, rose 1.2 points to 100.1 points. Among the components of the group, the forecasted demand indicator in the next three months advanced 1.7 point, to 102.8 points, and the indicator of business trend in the next six months increased by 0.6 point, to 97.3 .

Construction’s Installed Capacity Utilization Level (NUCI) dropped 0.2 percentage point in August to 77.7%, still above the June level (77.1%). In the openings, the NUCI of Manpower was stable at 78.9%, while the NUCI of Machinery and Equipment retreated 1.2 points, to 72.7%.