In Sulawesi, Indonesia, nickel mining is in full swing.
A pure electric mining dump truck with the nameplate “Made in China” is driving on a winding mountain road fully loaded with ore. There is no black smoke, only the low hum of the motor.
“One hour of charging can last a whole day”, this scenario is no longer an isolated case.
From mines in Southeast Asia to construction sites in the Middle East, from municipal projects in Europe to railway construction in Africa, more and more Chinese construction machinery are becoming the first choice of global customers with their new image of green, smart and efficient.
The data in the first two months of this year confirms this trend.
From January to February, my country’s construction machinery exports totaled US$10.686 billion, a year-on-year increase of 33.4%.
Among them, the export volume of engineering machinery parts, crawler excavators, off-highway mining dump trucks and other categories has increased significantly; high-end and electrified models have become the most eye-catching growth poles.
The scale of tens of billions of dollars has reached a new level.
In the first two months, my country’s construction machinery exports continued the strong momentum of last year, totaling US$10.686 billion, a net increase of US$2.675 billion compared with the same period last year. The year-on-year growth rate of 33.4% hit a new high in the same period in the past three years.
Looking at a single month, the export trade volume in January was US$5.556 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%; the export trade volume in February was US$5.13 billion, a year-on-year increase of 56.3%.
The resilience of overseas demand is first reflected in the full bloom of regional markets.
In the first two months, my country’s exports of construction machinery products to Africa increased by 77%, exports to Oceania increased by 50.6%, and exports to Europe increased by 28.1%.
The African market is accelerating from “potential” to “performance”.
Domestically, the export performance of major industrial clusters is equally impressive.
Hunan’s construction machinery exports increased by 27.4% compared with the same period last year. Overseas orders from leading companies in the Changsha Economic Development Zone have been scheduled to the second quarter; the export volume of crawler excavators and cranes in Xuzhou, Jiangsu has reached a record high for the same period in history; agglomeration areas such as Jining, Shandong and Xiamen, Fujian have also achieved growth rates of more than 30%.
The proportion of overseas revenue of leading companies continues to increase, with some accounting for close to 45% of total revenue.
The overlay of multiple benefits has promoted exports to achieve higher-than-expected growth.
First, global infrastructure and mining investment has entered a new round of activity, especially the energy transformation that has driven a surge in demand for mining of key minerals such as lithium, copper, and nickel. Second, after years of intensive development, domestic companies have significantly enhanced their overseas channels and localized service capabilities. Third, China’s supply chain is stable and cost-effective, and it has taken on some international order transfers during the restructuring of the global supply chain.
Parts and the whole machine work together.
In the first two months, the export volume of the three major categories of construction machinery parts, crawler excavators, and off-highway mining dump trucks has increased significantly, forming a good pattern of collaborative efforts between parts and complete machines.
In terms of engineering machinery parts, core products such as hydraulic parts, traveling mechanisms, and structural parts have entered the global factories of international giants and the European and American after-sales markets in large quantities.
The cumulative export volume of crawler excavators in the first two months was 56,369 units, a year-on-year increase of 53.41%, and the total value was approximately US$1.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 33.40%.
As the global energy transformation accelerates, the demand for transportation equipment in large-scale open-pit mines is increasing, and a comprehensive export model of “complete machines + services” is taking shape.
High-end electrification leads the upgrade.
In the first two months of 2026, high-end and electrified models are becoming new growth poles.
The export volume of electric construction machinery products has achieved substantial growth, and the growth rate is several times that of traditional fuel models.
The main export products include electric excavators, electric loaders, electric forklifts, electric mining dump trucks, etc.
Europe is the largest overseas market for electric construction machinery. The products launched by Chinese companies based on their technological accumulation have reached internationally advanced levels in terms of battery life, charging efficiency, and reliability, and their prices have obvious advantages over similar products in Europe and the United States.
In terms of high-end, the export of large-tonnage, high-value-added models continues to improve, and intelligent products such as driverless mining vehicles, remote-controlled excavators, and 5G smart cranes have also begun to be exported in small batches.
High-end and electrification are intertwined, driving the continued increase in the added value of China’s construction machinery export products.
However, Dongguan Securities analysts reminded that geopolitical conflicts directly disrupt overseas demand for construction machinery, and export orders may slow down; however, the onset of the global interest rate cut cycle may effectively hedge against downward pressure and support the export of products overseas to maintain a high level of prosperity.
