The estimated total volume of all new orders in the British construction sector in the third quarter of 2012 increased by 5.4 percent compared to the second quarter of the year. However, the total volume of all new construction orders in the third quarter of 2012 was estimated to be 6.7 percent lower than in the third quarter of 2011, according to a report released by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Compared with the second quarter of 2012, there was an increase of 31.4 percent in the estimated volume of infrastructure orders in the third quarter, with the order volume for railways increasing by 79.1 percent. Infrastructure orders were estimated to be 43.8 percent higher in the third quarter of 2012 compared with the same period one year earlier.
Representing the UK's manufacturers and suppliers of construction products, components and fittings, the Construction Products Association (CPA) stated that, although the third quarter of the current year has seen some improvement compared to the second quarter, the overall level of new construction orders remains very poor, indicating continuing challenging conditions for construction in 2013.
Commenting on the ONS figures, Milja Keijonen, senior economist at the CPA, said, "Despite difficult market and conditions, there are some brighter areas, as both infrastructure and private industrial construction new orders are showing double digit increases for the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year."
"It would be very encouraging if this percentage growth was repeated across all sectors, but the figures for these two sectors are not unexpected and the overall figure of orders for all new work is negative," noted Keijonen explaining that commercial and private housing, which accounted for 36 percent of total construction output in 2011, saw orders decline both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year in the third quarter.