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After a modest growth of 0.5 % in 2014, the construction output in Brazil is expected to grow at more or less the same level in 2015.

A 9 % increase is forecast for the US construction sector in 2015; the vast majority of construction and design firm executives believe the market is stable or growing.

It is expected that construction output growth will continue in the UK in 2015 and also continue to broaden out beyond house building.

While French business insolvencies are forecast to level off in 2015, it is expected that construction business failures will further increase due to the low economic growth forecast for France.

With poor demand, on-going pressure on prices and a high number of insolvencies, the construction sector in Belgium is going through difficult times.

Economic conditions in the Eurozone remain challenging with insolvencies still 70% higher than in 2007 on average.

A sharp Chinese economic slowdown will affect countries through their exports and commodity prices. Especially countries in Asia and Africa are vulnerable.

Thailand ́s open and export-oriented economy is expected to benefit from a modest global recovery this year.

Since 2012, economic growth has been high, driven by private consumption which accounts for about 70% of the economy. Growth has also been sustained by rising demand for exports.

Malaysia’s business environment is considered to be far more favourable than that of its regional neighbours, apart from Singapore, and the financial sector is strong.

As in 2013 and 2014, fierce competition means that the Dutch construction sector is still affected by price wars, leading to on-going pressure on margins.

The swift implementation of reforms would further strengthen Mexico ́s already solid external economic situation by boosting FDI and reducing dependency on volatile portfolio capital inflows.

India’s rebound is expected to be driven by the resumption of stalled infrastructure projects, high investment, urbanisation, the improvement of the business environment and structural reforms.

Although economic growth is slowing, the business environment is generally stable. The challenge for the Chinese authorities is to implement reforms to reduce the vulnerabilities in the economy.

Despite several bans which affected the Polish food sector negatively, this has performed quite well, mainly because of the rising domestic consumption.

Payments in the Danish food sector remained unchanged and are, on average, 30 days.

The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of food and agricultural products. The weakening of the euro gave a boost to further export growth.

The German food sector has continued to grow in the first half of 2014. Domestically, there is increased competition caused by large retailers and discounters’ dominating market share.

The French food sector has benefited from falling raw material prices and a weaker euro, which helps boost competitiveness abroad.

Without structural reforms to raise savings, reduce dependency on energy imports and improve the investment climate, Turkey ́s potential growth rate will likely decrease to 3% - 3.5% per annum.

Concerns that credit quality could be deteriorating in several countries in Asia Pacific are growing.

When Taiwanese respondents were asked about the main challenges to their business profitability this year, 43.5% answered that maintaining adequate cash flow was the most critical factor.

The main challenge to profitability cited by our survey respondents in Singapore was “maintaining adequate cash flow”, at 31.7%.

43.8% of Japanese respondents said that the biggest challenge to business profitability was falling demand for their products and services, the highest percentage of all Asia Pacific nations surveyed.

Indonesian respondents said that 37.1% of overdue receivables were paid within 30 days, slightly above average for the region.

Indian respondents were aligned with their peers in Asia Pacific in citing “maintaining adequate cash flow” as their biggest challenge.

Respondents in Hong Kong indicated that their biggest challenge to profitability this year would be maintaining adequate cash flow, with 37.4% stating this to be the case.

When questioned about the biggest challenges to their business profitability this year, 36.2% of Australians responded that maintaining adequate cash flow was their key challenge.

The German automotive sector has benefited increasing domestic production as well as a growing share of car production overseas.

The UK car market continued to grow last year. Compared to other UK industries, the automotive sector’s default and insolvency rate is good, with a stable outlook.

The automotive sector was hit hard by the economic crisis, as lower domestic consumption and difficulties accessing finance led to a slump in the car market. However, a rebound began in 2013.

Payments in the Italian automotive industry range between 60-90 to 120-150 days, depending on the end-buyer and whether working capital requirements can be obtained from banks or suppliers.

The downward trend in the French automotive industry appears to have bottomed out, and there are signs of a modest rebound.

Although China ́s economic growth is forecast to slow down in 2014, there are many positive catalysts for the car industry , and we expect a second straight year of strong growth.

Russia ́s fiscal position still looks robust. Public debt has been relatively stable at 8% since the global credit crisis of 2008/2009 and is even set to decline in 2015.

33.5% of respondents in Brazil reported that maintaining sufficient cash flow levels will be their biggest challenge to their business profitability.

Over 50% of very late payments went uncollected by businesses in the Americas.

Despite a drop in output of 3.4 % to 34.65 million tons, Turkey kept its position as the world’s 8th largest steel producer.

Russian domestic consumption of steel products has developed better than demand from overseas markets.

Mexico’s steel industry is expected to continue its rebound in 2015, thanks to an upturn in construction activities: mainly through housing and infrastructure investment postponed in 2013.

In 2014 and 2015 growth is expected to return in the US steel sector, with apparent steel use expected to increase 4% in 2014 and 3.7% in 2015.

Overall, Japanese steel production increased 3.1% year-on-year in 2013. In the first half of 2014 domestic steel orders increased 2.8%, while export orders fell by 9.4%.

On average, payments in the Indian steel/metals industry have remained unchanged since last year, taking between 60 and 90 days.

While production growth in the Chinese steel sector slowed to 3 % in the first half of 2014, the industry is expected to create excess capacity.

Compared to most advanced economies and despite a volatile global economy Australia’s economic performance has been remarkably good over the last few years.

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