Construction forecast in France in 2018

According to the French Construction Industry associations, the construction activity will continue to grow next year.

Civil Engineering activity is recovering at last. A lot of new projects are finally seeing the light of day. Of course, the ‘Greater Paris’ is probably the most famous and popular program. But, with the growing urbanization, many other projects are also planned in cities and metropolitan areas. For example, the total route mileage of tramways systems in France is going up. Across the country, cities large and small have adopted the construction of modern tramways that has led to improved circulation, more convenient networks, and renovated downtowns. This trend will continue in the coming years.

The construction and maintenance of roads starts to grow again this year after few years of decline. It will expand in 2018 by almost 3%. For example, the motorway investment plan will continue to support the activity next year.

The growth in new residential construction has been considerably higher this year than in 2016 while the non-residential construction market just started to recover. In 2018, residential market will continue to grow but at a slower pace. Conversely, the rate of growth for non-residential construction market should be much higher. Industrial production is back on an upward trend. Local authorities should invest again in public buildings. The French storage market is forecasted to continue to grow due to the increasing ecommerce sector and the problems on the so-called last mile regarding delivery services. Lastly, lower rate of office vacancy and annual service job creation can be observed and stricter energy laws should additionally drive non-residential renovation.

In this favorable economic context, the production of cement and granulates will be up by +3% and +3,5% respectively.