What is the expected impact of the ongoing energy crisis on demand for merchant bar and some wire rod products in Central Europe
 of incremental annual rebar demand within a domestic market of roughly 9 million tons, representing an approximately 17% increase in consumption. Spending is expected to ramp up over five years and assuming typical time frames for project approvals, bidding, and awarding, we should begin to see some impact on construction activity in calendar year 2023. The Dodge data I discussed earlier supports this view.
Another meaningful structural trend is the reassuring of critical industries. We have previously mentioned the massive scale and pace of construction of new semiconductor facilities. Currently, there are at least 11 facilities planned to be constructed with related total investment of over $275 billion. CMC is already shipping to several of these projects, but most are yet to break ground and impact rebar consumption.
Semiconductor chip and wafer plants are the highest profile examples of reshoring, but other industries are also experiencing increased activity or project planning. These include LNG facilities for the export of natural gas, chemical and plastic plants, as well as the automotive supply chain with a particular focus on electric vehicles and battery production. The last three years have exposed the vulnerabilities of concentrated global supply chains structured to operate under stable conditions and cooperative political regimes. The pandemic and geopolitical turmoil have reminded us of the need for a more distributed set of sourcing options, ensuring reliability and flexibility in securing critical materials and equipment.
Eventually, we expect reshoring to extend well beyond the areas we just discussed. Turning briefly to merchant bar, underlying demand conditions and end use OEM markets are generally stable. Following the destocking event that occurred during our fiscal fourth quarter, shipments to service centers stabilized at improved levels during the first quarter. We would expect real underlying demand to continue at a steady rate in the quarters ahead.
As I indicated, market conditions in Europe are more challenging. Overall, construction activity continued to grow on a year-over-year basis during the first quarter. However, residential activity, which has been strong for more than a year, is now showing signs of a slowdown due to the impact of rising mortgage interest rate. New mortgage origination has declined meaningfully over the last several months.
However, programs are being developed to support first-time homebuyers, which should attract more market activity by mid-calendar 2023. In addition, as a result of the ongoing energy crisis, industrial activity in Central Europe has been in contraction since the summer of 2022. This has impacted demand for merchant bar and some wire rod products. On the other hand, energy prices have moderated somewhat from recent market peaks, and the current mild temperatures should also provide some relief.
As illustrated on Slide 10 of the supplemental presentation, the European energy crisis, combined with trade sanctions, has impacted historical trade flows in the region, which has benefited Poland on a relative basis. Poland has recently moved into a net rebar export position compared to a fairly large net import position a year ago. Electricity price volatility relative to the broader EU has tended to be less extreme in Poland over the last year due to a variety of factors, which has created a favorable cost dynamic for Polish producers. Energy costs have been both lower and more stable, providing some protection from imported materials originating from other European Union countries.
With regard to rebar trade with countries outside the EU, little foreign material has entered the Polish market to offset the loss of Russian and Belarusian rebar. Imports have increased into the broader EU, but this material has gone to countries that are more logistically accessible and are experiencing higher energy costs. So, while European demand is challenging at the moment, the supply side of the economic equation is helping to offset much of the detrimental impact. 
 of incremental annual rebar demand within a domestic market of roughly 9 million tons, representing an approximately 17% increase in consumption. Spending is expected to ramp up over five years and assuming typical time frames for project approvals, bidding, and awarding, we should begin to see some impact on construction activity in calendar year 2023. The Dodge data I discussed earlier supports this view.
Another meaningful structural trend is the reassuring of critical industries. We have previously mentioned the massive scale and pace of construction of new semiconductor facilities. Currently, there are at least 11 facilities planned to be constructed with related total investment of over $275 billion. CMC is already shipping to several of these projects, but most are yet to break ground and impact rebar consumption.
Semiconductor chip and wafer plants are the highest profile examples of reshoring, but other industries are also experiencing increased activity or project planning. These include LNG facilities for the export of natural gas, chemical and plastic plants, as well as the automotive supply chain with a particular focus on electric vehicles and battery production. The last three years have exposed the vulnerabilities of concentrated global supply chains structured to operate under stable conditions and cooperative political regimes. The pandemic and geopolitical turmoil have reminded us of the need for a more distributed set of sourcing options, ensuring reliability and flexibility in securing critical materials and equipment.
Eventually, we expect reshoring to extend well beyond the areas we just discussed. Turning briefly to merchant bar, underlying demand conditions and end use OEM markets are generally stable. Following the destocking event that occurred during our fiscal fourth quarter, shipments to service centers stabilized at improved levels during the first quarter. We would expect real underlying demand to continue at a steady rate in the quarters ahead.
As I indicated, market conditions in Europe are more challenging. Overall, construction activity continued to grow on a year-over-year basis during the first quarter. However, residential activity, which has been strong for more than a year, is now showing signs of a slowdown due to the impact of rising mortgage interest rate. New mortgage origination has declined meaningfully over the last several months.
 However, programs are being developed to support first-time homebuyers, which should attract more market activity by mid-calendar 2023. In addition, as a result of the ongoing energy crisis, industrial activity in Central Europe has been in contraction since the summer of 2022. This has impacted demand for merchant bar and some wire rod products. On the other hand, energy prices have moderated somewhat from recent market peaks, and the current mild temperatures should also provide some relief.
As illustrated on Slide 10 of the supplemental presentation, the European energy crisis, combined with trade sanctions, has impacted historical trade flows in the region, which has benefited Poland on a relative basis. Poland has recently moved into a net rebar export position compared to a fairly large net import position a year ago. Electricity price volatility relative to the broader EU has tended to be less extreme in Poland over the last year due to a variety of factors, which has created a favorable cost dynamic for Polish producers. Energy costs have been both lower and more stable, providing some protection from imported materials originating from other European Union countries.
With regard to rebar trade with countries outside the EU, little foreign material has entered the Polish market to offset the loss of Russian and Belarusian rebar. Imports have increased into the broader EU, but this material has gone to countries that are more logistically accessible and are experiencing higher energy costs. So, while European demand is challenging at the moment, the supply side of the economic equation is helping to offset much of the detrimental impact. 