Construction MMI: November Construction Spending Up 3.4% Year Over Year

U.S. Construction Spending

U.S. construction spending in November (the most recently available data) hit an estimated $1,299.9 billion, up 0.8% from the October total $1,289.7 billion.
November spending marked a 3.4% increase from the November 2017 construction spending total.
For the first 11 months of the year, spending hit $1,200.7 billion, a 4.5% increase from the January-November 2017 period (when spending hit $1,149.3 billion).
Under private construction, spending hit $993.4 billion in November, marking 1.3% increase from the revised October total of $980.4 billion. Furthermore, residential construction hit $542.5 billion, up 3.5% from October. Meanwhile, nonresidential construction hit $524.2 billion, down 1.2% from October.
As for public construction, spending reached $306.5 billion, 0.9% below the October total of $309.3 billion. Educational construction hit $76.7 billion, marking a 2.0% drop from October’s $78.3 billion. Highway construction spending reached $93.4 billion, up 1.7% from October’s $91.8 billion.

Architecture Billings Index

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI), released monthly by the American Institute of Architects, indicated modest billings growth to close 2018.
The December ABI came in at a value of 50.4 (anything greater than 50 indicates growth). The December ABI marks a drop from the previous month, when it reached 54.7.
“But despite flat billings in December, firm billings increased every month of the year in 2018,” the ABI report states. “And while concern about a potential economic slowdown looms for 2019, firms are not yet seeing any clear signs of it in their project workloads.”
Billings growth was the strongest in the Midwest, which posted an ABI of 56.3. Trailing the Midwest were the Northeast (51.6), South (49.4) and the West (49.2).
On the jobs front, the report notes the construction sector added 280,000 jobs in 2018, an uptick of 30,000 from the construction jobs added in 2017.
This month’s ABI survey of architecture industry professionals asked about the stock market volatility December and its level of impact on billings growth.
According to the ABI report, just 5% of respondents indicated the December volatility impacted their current projects, while an additional 29% reported “they have heard rumblings of potential impacts but haven’t seen anything definitive just yet.”

Actual Metal Prices and Trends

Chinese rebar steel ticked up 0.5% month over month to $559.36/mt as of Feb. 1. Chinese H-beam steel also moved up 4% to $559.36/mt.
U.S. shredded scrap steel fell 11.0% to $314/st.
MetalMiner’s Annual Outlook provides 2019 buying strategies for carbon steel
European commercial 1050 aluminum sheet fell 0.5% to $2,654.15/mt. Chinese aluminum bar rose 3.1% to $2,152.41/mt. Meanwhile, 62% iron ore PB fines rose 2.6% to $78.31 per dry metric ton.