Greek 1H12 construction contracts 12%

Greek construction activity shrank by an annual 12 per cent in the first half of 2012, leaving the industry on course for a seventh consecutive year of contraction as the cement industry heads towards a quarter of 2006 peak levels.

Building activity in volume terms contracted to 9Mm3 in the six months to June from 10.2Mm3 a year earlier, statistics service ELSTAT said on Tuesday. It had stood at 36Mm3 in the first half of 2005, the sector's last year of expansion.    

Construction has been hit hardest by government austerity policies and last year reached a 40-year low.
Cement demand registered its fifth year of contraction in 2011 and for this year further falls are expected to stand at probably no more than a quarter of the peak level seen in 2006 (11.63Mt), according to Titan Cement forecasts.

The economy is expected to shrink for a fifth consecutive  year in 2012, having contracted by about a fifth since 2007, its last year of expansion. Its government acknowledged on Monday it was having trouble persuading its foreign lenders to accept a plan to save nearly EUR12bn over the next two years, essential to unlocking the aid payments its needs to avoid bankruptcy.