The excavator market welcomes "double happiness": domestic sales surge by 20%,and exports are expected to become positive
As China's construction machinery industry ushered in a new growth cycle, the excavator market showed a positive development trend. According to CME’s latest survey and research, excavator sales are expected to reach 16,000 units in June 2024, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. Among them, the domestic sales market performs particularly well, with sales expected to reach 7,300 units, a year-on-year increase of 20%. This growth is mainly due to increased demand for equipment updates and the impact of a low base in 2023.
Domestic demand recovery: small excavators lead the market
Small excavators have become the main force driving the recovery of domestic demand. With the active advancement of the "Equipment Update Plan", it is expected that by 2027, the scale of equipment investment in industry, construction, transportation and other fields will increase by more than 25% compared with 2023. This policy orientation has injected strong impetus into the excavator market. According to estimates, the demand for excavator updates in 2024 will be approximately 72,000 units, of which small excavators dominate. In addition, the implementation of the trillion-dollar treasury bond project to be issued at the end of 2023 has effectively alleviated local funding pressure and provided strong support for infrastructure investment. From January to May 2024, China's infrastructure investment increased by 7.5% year-on-year, and 9,683 new water conservancy projects were started, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, further stimulating demand for excavators. Taking into account seasonal factors, domestic demand is expected to achieve significant positive growth from September and October.
Overseas markets: challenges and opportunities coexist
Although export sales in June 2024 are expected to drop 10% year-on-year to 8,700 units, there is still huge potential in overseas markets. Affected by the adjustment of overseas product structure and the high base in 2023, domestic and foreign sales are facing certain pressure in the short term. However, as domestic construction machinery companies accelerate their overseas expansion, especially in high-end markets such as North America and Europe, excavator exports are expected to become regular in the second half of the year. According to data from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, my country's construction machinery import and export trade volume from January to May 2024 was US$22.292 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.06%, of which export volume was US$21.193 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.13%. This shows that the competitiveness of my country's construction machinery products in the international market is constantly improving.
It is worth noting that although the construction machinery markets in North America, Europe and other regions have high entry barriers, their profit levels are also relatively high. Domestic complete machine companies are actively breaking into these high-end markets, which will bring new growth points to the industry. At the same time, the mining machinery market has also become an area of focus for domestic enterprises. Its high technical requirements and high profit margins have attracted the attention of many enterprises.
Overall, the excavator market is in a critical period where opportunities and challenges coexist. The strong recovery of domestic demand has provided the industry with a stable growth foundation, while the expansion of overseas markets has opened up new space for future development. With the continuous improvement of the technical strength of domestic enterprises and the deepening of internationalization strategies, China's excavator industry is expected to occupy a more important position in the global market.
