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Minnesota's forest products industries are in a slump. Companies that produce lumber, oriented-strand board and other building materials are particularly hard hit by the sharp decline in new-home construction nationwide. Many have cut back production, and some are closing, at least temporarily, and letting workers go. Some people, including elected officials, suggest cutting the cost of trees from state-owned forests as a measure to help these companies and prevent layoffs. Others object to selling public resources to private companies for less than market value. This debate has a long history at the national level and sheds light on issues in Minnesota. Across the nation, the federal government owns large acreages used for logging or mining. It also owns petroleum deposits in the Gulf of Mexico and natural gas deposits across the West.
President of the Incorporated Master Builders Association, Michael Archer, says the local construction sector has not yet recovered from the cement crisis which rocked the industry earlier this year.
Speaking with the RJR News Centre Wednesday morning, Mr. Archer said while the situation, with respect to cement has improved, some contractors are still recovering from the fallout. We had greater anticipation and expectation this year for significant growth. Last year we had seven per cent but as a result of the cement crisis, this year has been flat, said Mr. Archer. A lot of contractors have felt the financial effects of the cement crisis. We are hoping that there will be some level of recovery in the fourth quarter, Mr. Archer is forecasting that the sector will perform well in 2007, as several projects are expected to get off the ground.
Given the Pittsburgh region's slow pace of employment growth and declining population, it's not all surprising that the housing market is due for a slowdown. "The area's weak rate of household formation limits growth of housing demand, and higher mortgage rates have helped further soften demand growth," noted the August economic forecast for the seven-county region by the Economics Division of PNC Financial Services Group. PNC is projecting a 5.4 percent decline in housing construction for 2006 -- to 5,300 units versus 5,601 units last year -- based on its analysis of housing permit application data from the U.S. Census Bureau, according to Richard Moody, a PNC regional economist. That includes a drop of about 8 percent -- 4,300 units versus 4,672 units -- in the larger, single-family segment of the market covering Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Home construction in the Greater Toronto Area was down in September, largely because of a lull in the condominium market, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. But the agency hastened to add that the condo market tends to appear volatile when looked at on a month-to-month basis. And those numbers should soon turn around, said Jason Mercer, the CMHC's senior market analyst for the GTA. He said record numbers of pre-construction condos have been sold over the past two years, which "will convert into a greater number of condominium starts," he said. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts was 25,200 in September, down from 32,500 in August. "Multiple family" dwellings (mainly condos) were down 41 per cent, from 18,600 to 11,000.
ISLAMABAD: Pak Gulf Construction Company was the highest bidder in the bidding for the construction of 3-Star hotel. In this regard, a simple but dignified ceremony was held in CDA headquarters. The ceremony included local and foreign companies that took active part in bidding for the construction of 3-Star hotel. The bidding was formally supervised by CDA Member Finance Kamran Ali Qureshi while on the other hand CDA`s Director Project Management was involved in bidding arrangements. The ceremony included CDA high ups including CDA Chairman Kamran Lashari. End. .
(MENAFN) UAE and the Gulf region are actively pursuing the international debt market. Analysts expect the huge borrowing programs from the semi-government and private sector from the region to eclipse the equity boom that gripped the region during 2005, Khaleej Times reported.
According to a recent report by Trowers & Hamlins, Gulf companies sold equities worth more than $15 billion in one year, up by four times the amount raised during the previous year.
Some $10.26 billion was raised in the second half of 2005, while $4.43 billion was raised during the first half of this year.
Latest available data suggests that the region has raised close to $10 billion through debt during the first 9 months of this year.
Many mega projects announced during the equity boom are now looking at the regional and international debt markets to fund these projects.
Two dolphins leap into the air over a mermaid, her arms thrown up, her hair whipping forward and her tail arched behind her back. She is perched atop a churning wave, which sprays into the air to create a circular feel to the bronze statue. The 18-foot-tall Goddess of the Sea is the statue that Gay Dolphin owner Buz Plyler wants to anchor the downtown park at the ocean end of Mr. Joe White Avenue dedicated to his father, Justin. He's pledged $35,000 of the $235,000 cost, and the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation is trying to come up with the rest. That money could come from private developers under a change to Myrtle Beach law City Council is considering. The city's Cultural Arts Advisory Committee, supported by the Planning Commission and the DRC, proposed that the city start tying public art funding to private development.
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