The volume of construction works increased by 3.3% in February, compared to the same month of 2020, but this still couldn’t fully offset the poor performance in January and as a result the overall volume of works in January-February lagged by 0.6% compared to the same period of last year.
The cloudy picture has a silver lining though: civil engineering works were up by 11.2% year-on-year and new construction works by a more modest 2% y/y.
By market segment, the residential building works segment contracted by 5.6% y/y and the non-residential buildings segment by 12.8% y/y in January-February.
Overall, the construction market has not started the new season on a higher level, as happened in 2020 (creating a high base effect). But the outlook remains robust for some segments of the market, particularly the residential segment in and around first-tier cities and in the logistic and industrial segment.