On the West Coast, there appears to be a slowdown in some segments of the non-residential construction market, specifically in shopping malls and office buildings where an oversupply exists after a period of intensive construction.

Activity and confidence still remains strong in the segments that the Steel Framing Alliance (SFA) is targeting - mid-rise hotel, assisted living, apartment/condo, and mixed-use. There are currently 229 mid-rise (5-7 floors) projects early in the planning stages in California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Activity in the mid-rise hotel market is particularly robust.

While there are some concerns that rising steel prices may force conversion of planned cold-formed steel projects to other materials, the SFA has not received any reports that this is happening at this point.

Meanwhile, residential construction in Canada remains strong. Over the first four months this year, actual starts were up an estimated 3.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date actual starts in urban areas have increased by an estimated 9.6 percent over the same period in 2007. This increase has been driven by a 29.3 percent increase in multifamily starts, a market segment that the SFA is focusing on. At the same time, single family starts were 14.9 per cent lower than they were a year earlier.

Non-residential construction activity in our target segments continues to be strong. There are currently 44 projects (5-9 floors) in the early planning stages in Ontario. Integrated framing solutions providers are becoming increasingly concerned that rising steel prices could soon force them out of the market. At this point, they are reducing their margins to keep developers from converting cold-formed steel projects to poured-in-place concrete and CMU’s.

For information about SFA activities on the West Coast, contact Todd Setter (market development representative, West Coast) at tsetter@steelframing.org. And to learn more about activities in the Canadian market, contact Ed Hernandez (market development representative, Canada) at ehernandez@steelframing.org.