(Construction) - As the corona virus pandemic continues globally, Japanese construction contractors have been struggling with their overseas business.
Although many construction projects have resumed and the business environment is improving, slow material procurement is causing delays in some cases. The circumstance still requires construction companies to look closely the situation and respond flexibly.
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| Pandemic impacts overseas projects of Japanese Construction Companies. |
The financial results of major general contractors for the April-December period of 2020 showed grim figures. Consolidated volume of Kajima's received overseas orders decreased 10.9% from the same period in the previous year to 303.5 billion yen. While the construction projects in the U.S. and Taiwan are being undertaken normally, the company projected that it would take time to fully recover in Asia due to delays in the return of workers.
Obayashi Corporation resumed most of the construction works that had been suspended in North America and Singapore in the first half of fiscal 2020. The labor shortage, being serious particularly in Singapore, is improving and the capacity utilization rate is returning to the level before the pandemic. The received orders fell 31.6% to 241.5 billion yen.
Shimizu Corporation has also been hit hard with a 75.7% drop to 33 billion yen. The decline was large in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Indonesia, where the company had previously received a series of orders for large-scale projects.
Taisei Corporation saw its non-consolidated orders decrease by 90.5% to 5.8 billion yen, but it expects the figures to increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 ending in March 2021. Takenaka Corporation reported in an announcement of its financial results for the fiscal year which ended December 2020 the consolidated overseas sales of 120.3 billion yen, down 21.6% from the previous year. Among the overseas group companies, sales and profits of Takenaka Europe and Takenaka Thailand decreased significantly mostly due to the pandemic.
Although the situation varies in countries and regions, each company is gradually resuming the overseas projects. According to an official of some company, however, facing such challenges as labor shortages, delays in material procurement, and soaring material prices, the overseas business is in a very fluid and difficult situation.(2021/03/10)
The Daily Engineering and Construction News of Japan
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