Energy efficiency and redevelopment are increasingly felt themes, also in our country. An attention confirmed by the government which, in recent days, has amended the NRP with the aim, among others, of encouraging green renovations. According to estimates, the investment revision, already approved by the European Commission, would inject a total of around €19 billion into the system for RepowerEu, the new chapter to be added to the Plan. Of these, a large part directly affect the construction world: 4 billion will be earmarked for a new Ecobonus for low-income households, and another 4 billion will concern the energy efficiency of public assets.
This would make the construction industry even more central to the Italian economy. But what is the state of health of the sector? According to the latest Saie Observatory on production, distribution and services companies for the construction and plant engineering sector, released in preparation for Saie, the construction exhibition (Bari, 19 – 21 October), in general the sector is going through a phase of adjustment, after the growth of recent years, possible in part thanks to the impact of incentives and the unblocking of building sites.
PERFORMANCE
Let us start with satisfaction with the order backlog, the most striking fact: more than nine out of ten companies (93 percent) consider it adequate for their financial sustainability. The demand, therefore, is there and it is high, but compared to the last surveys, only a small proportion (13 percent) had to give up work due to excess demand (they were 95 percent in January 2023). Entrepreneurs, in fact, have successfully run for cover, focusing mainly on the investments needed to improve production capacity and on hiring new staff (both 47 percent). In general, incentives and the unblocking of construction sites (both 59 percent) are considered decisive for the growth of the sector in the post “Covid” era. The latter, in particular, has gained about 30 percentage points since the previous Saie Observatory in January and could increase further in the coming months if the Superbonus were to be changed.
Looking at the economic trend, more than 6 out of 10 companies (64 percent) say they are overall satisfied with how their company is doing, with 48 percent of the sample boasting an increase in revenues. This is in line with the expectation of growth in turnover by the end of the year (51 percent). Looking instead at the next three years, 57 percent of the companies expect the sector to develop. Remaining in the present, the same percentage feels confident about the general scenario, despite some socio-economic criticalities particularly perceived by the sector such as the increase in labour costs (65 percent) and inflation (57 percent).
