Finance & Funding

Japanese firm Yanmar is acquiring the compact construction equipment business of Terex Corporation. The deal is worth around US$60 million and will see ownership of Terex Corporation’s German operations that manufacture compact machines being transferred to Yanmar Holdings. Terex manufactures and markets ranges of wheeled loaders, midi and mini excavators, wheeled excavators, and a number of other products in Europe through this business. Included in the acquisition is the manufacturing facility located in

A US$780 million eastward extension to Toronto’s major toll highway 407 has opened after four years of construction. Work on 407 East Phase 1 project – which also included construction of the smaller Highway 412 – involved building more than 148 lane-kilometres and 11 interchanges. The 22km road stretches from Brock Road in the town of Pickering to Harmony Road in the city of Oshawa. Highway 412 is a 10km north-south road that connects Highway 407 to Highway 401. Travel on the toll road will be free u

India is the new focus for the world construction industry market. In 2015 there was a change in perspective in Asia, with demand for machines in China dropping in terms of construction growth. India posted growth of 5.3% during 2015, while China achieved growth of 4%. This change at the top has been confirmed by the SaMoTer-Verona Outlook. This is a construction sector observatory group set up in partnership with Prometeia, the international economic consulting and research firm, with the support of Una

Serbia has around €5.5 billion worth of transport infrastructure projects either in progress or in preparation, according to the government. Of the €5.5 billion of contracts, around €3 billion is for roads under construction. Minister of infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlovic, said that around 90km or motorway will be completed this year and another 200km will be rehabilitated. Among these projects is construction of the Nis-Merdare motorway. In the past two years around 170km of motorways were built. Amon

The China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank will co-finance a 64km highway project between Khanewal and Shorkot towns in Punjab province of Pakistan. A report in Japan Today said that ADB had approved a €88.85 million loan for the project. AIIB will likely get board approval for its nearly €89 million this month. A grant for the project worth nearly €34 million is being extended by the UK’s Department of International Development. The Pakistan

Portuguese engineering and infrastrucure firm Mota-Engil and the Paraguayan company Concret Mix were the soul bidders for a turn-key contract to repair and upgrade Paraguay’s Route 9 Transchaco. The national highway project, costing nearly US$500 million covers around 530km. The Transchaco starts in Asunción – Paraguay’s capital and largest city - and ends at the border with Bolivia, traversing 835km. Work includes widening by a metre the 6m-wide highway that crosses the semi-arid Paraguayan Chaco, on

The latest report from Europe’s contractor association, the FIEC, shows that the recovery of the construction industry should continue, but at a slower pace. The FIEC reports a 2.4% recovery in activity in the overall EU construction industry in 2015 and forecasts an increase of 2.1% in 2016. “After reaching the bottom in 2013 activity is slowly recovering in the construction industry,” said FIEC Vice-President Jean-Louis Marchand, responsible for economic issues, as he presented FIEC’s annual statistics

Chile is pushing ahead with infrastructure development. The Ministry of Public Works intends to award five to seven projects during 2016. The Ministry of Public Works has also set a target of having 12-13 major infrastructure projects being awarded and worth a total of US$6 billion by the time the current administration comes to the end of its term. One road project due to be awarded shortly is for the phase two of the Vespucio Oriente link. The tender is expected to open in July 2016. The projects for t