Construction & Property Development

India - Building Sino-Indian business ties

Source: Channel News Asia, 26 October 2011

India is set to become China's largest market for construction and civil engineering projects in Asia. India's plans to double its construction of roads, railway and infrastructure over the next five years means business opportunities for Chinese contractors. As economic co-operation between the two neighbours strengthens, more Indian companies are also setting up bases in China.

But Indian companies said limited market access to China is still a problem. India and China are targeting US$100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015, up from US$60 billion last year. But India's expanding trade deficit with China is an increasing concern.

India - Cement sector likely to witness negative growth in October

Source: The Economic Times, 26 October 2011

The cement sector is likely to witness negative growth in sales in October due to a slowdown in infrastructure construction activities amid the festive season, besides the higher base in the corresponding month last year, a brokerage firm has said.

Industry sources said the unavailability of sand has impacted cement off take in the Western region, while the monsoon and the fluid political situation hit sales in Andhra Pradesh. "As cement demand is still subdued, cement players have cut down supply in the low price non-trade segment. Thus, cement prices during the month increased in most parts of the northern, eastern, western and central regions by Rs 5-30 per 50 kg bag," it said.

China - Hong Kong Property Transactions Fall 14%

Source: The Wall Street Journal, 02 November 2011

The number of Hong Kong property transactions agreed to in October fell 14% from September and 53% from a year earlier, Land Registry figures showed, as potential home buyers retreated because of rising mortgage rates and volatile markets.

Transactions have declined in recent months as mortgage rates have risen, albeit from a base of less than 1% for some adjustable-rate loans. Uncertainty over the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis also damped sentiment. Although Hong Kong property prices began to fall in a month-on-month basis in July, they were still 12% higher than at the start of the year as of August, government statistics show. The price increases earlier in the year followed a 24% surge in 2010, the result of abundant liquidity and persistently low interest rates.

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