The Construction Confidence Index (ICI) fell by 0.3 points in December, after declining by 5.3 points in November, Getulio Vargas (FGV) Foundation reported this Tuesday. As a result, the index reached 95.3 points, which is the lowest result since March 2022, when it reached 92.9 points.
The level of installed capacity utilization (NUCI) also declined, decreasing by 0.3 percentage points, to reach 78.3%. At the opening, the NUCI employment index fell 0.8 percentage points to 79.6% and the NUCI machinery and equipment index fell 2.0 percentage points to 71.9%.
The current situation index (ISA) declined by 0.4 points to 96.6 points, which is the lowest index since August of this year (96.4 points).
The ISA result was driven by the contract portfolio volume, which fell by 0.7 points to 98.1 points, and the current business situation index, which varied by -0.2 points to 95.0 points.
The Expectations Index (EI) varied by -0.1 points, to 94.3 points, which is the worst result since March 2022, when it reached 93.9 points. The business trend index for the next six months decreased 1.1 points to 92.3 points. On the other hand, the expected demand index for the next six months increased by 0.9 points to 96.3 points.
“In the past two months, pessimism prevailed regarding the development of demand. The forecast index reached less than 100 in December, which represents more pessimism than it was a year ago, ”says Ana Maria Castillo, construction project coordinator of Ibre / FGV. This means Businesses are already anticipating a slowdown in business resumption. It is worth noting that activity should still reflect this latest cycle for some time, but should lose steam as demand drops,” he adds.
