Construction Insider is a weekly roundup of the latest news and insights in construction.
10 states account for 60% of US construction
About 60% of total US construction project pipeline value is concentrated on only 10 states, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. EC&M
- California, Texas, and New York are among the 10 states which account for 60% of US construction, based on the 11,000 large-scale projects that were tracked country-wide.
- “The construction of mixed-use developments is booming across many U.S. states,” explains GlobalData Economist Dariana Tani.
- Mixed-use developments and infrastructure projects cover 56% of the total pipeline value in California, the state with the largest number and value of projects.
New duties placed on China, Mexico fabricated steel imports
The US Department of Commerce has placed duties on fabricated steel imports from China and Mexico, following a case brought by Chicago-based trade group American Institute of Steel Construction. ENR
- The preliminary countervailing duties will impose a 177% duties for Chinese fabricators and 74% for Mexican fabricators.
- Canadian structural steel imports, on the other hand, were found to be subsidized by only the minimum range of 1% so no duties would be imposed on them.
- The department affirmed that the 2018 values for steel imports from Canada, China, and Mexico were at $722.5 million, $897.5 million, and $622.4 million, respectively.
“Perfect storm” hits US home builders – Fed Chair
US home builders “feel almost like they have been hit with a perfect storm,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell in a testimony on housing affordability to the Senate Banking Committee. NAHB
- Powell responded to a statement by Sen. Tina Smith concerning the shortage of affordable housing given that wage growth could not keep up with increasing housing costs.
- Powell mentioned a “series of factors that are holding [home builders] back,” including the shortage of skilled labor in the industry and the rising costs of materials.
- Smith and Powell both agreed that the country’s immigration policy has something to do with a labor shortage. Powell also emphasized the need to address “longer-run challenges” among home builders.