In previous years, June is usually the traditional off-season for the construction machinery industry, but this year there has been a hot scene of “the off-season is not off-season”.
According to multiple visits, the production lines of many domestic construction machinery manufacturing companies are operating at full capacity, and electrified products are in short supply. The delivery cycle of some orders has been significantly longer than in previous years.
In the production workshop of an engineering machinery manufacturing company in Liuzhou, Guangxi, a batch of electric loaders are being assembled.
Due to the surge in orders, it has become normal for many customers to queue up at the factory to wait for goods.
A purchasing customer purchased 27 855TE electric loaders at one time to replace old fuel equipment and expand production capacity. Only 17 units have been delivered so far, and the remaining 10 units are still waiting in line for delivery.
The person in charge of production of the company said that in the face of a blowout of orders, the company continued to ramp up and increase production, and the single-day delivery record of electric loaders was also constantly being refreshed.
The relevant person in charge revealed that the production line is currently operating at full capacity, the capacity utilization rate has been reached, the output of the complete machine has increased significantly year-on-year, and the overall order demand has increased by nearly 50% year-on-year. Among them, the performance of electric loaders has been particularly impressive, with orders increasing by 100% year-on-year.
Not only are Guangxi’s manufacturing companies full of orders, but also many leading construction machinery companies in Changsha have received orders across the board.
A person in charge of the pumping business said that as the market penetration rate of electrified products continues to rise this year, the number of orders has far exceeded the same period in previous years. Orders that could be delivered in the same month in previous years are now generally delayed by two months.
In previous years, the industry’s peak season usually ended before June and came to an end around May. However, this year’s order demand continues to be strong, and the boom is expected to continue until July. According to the current delivery schedule, June orders may not be completed until August. Currently, companies are accelerating the production pace and making every effort to ensure delivery.
Public industry data shows that from January to May this year, sales of new energy engineering machinery in my country maintained a rapid growth momentum.
Taking electric loaders as an example, a total of 20,819 units were sold from January to May, a year-on-year increase of 90.9%. Electrification is becoming the core engine of growth in the construction machinery industry.
Industry analysts pointed out that overall, against the background of high oil prices, electrified products have lower costs of use and maintenance, and their full life cycle cost advantages are further highlighted.
Take loaders, aerial work platforms, mixers, forklifts and other products as examples. Their operating scenarios are relatively fixed and their operating cycles are relatively continuous. The domestic and overseas markets are expected to accelerate their penetration rate.
While production and sales in the domestic market are booming, overseas markets are also performing well.
In the first five months of this year, my country’s construction machinery exports continued to grow at a high rate. The production capacity of many companies exceeded the upper limit, and the logistics and delivery rhythm also changed from the “monthly concentration” in previous years to “normalized” delivery.
At a crane manufacturer in Ningxiang, Hunan, the production line has exceeded the maximum capacity of the original design just to deliver the surge in overseas orders on time.
According to the relevant person in charge, the overseas order volume this year has increased by 30% compared to last year, and is showing a monthly growth trend. While customer order volume has exceeded the historical peak, the company’s production capacity has also been breaking through historical records, and the current production capacity has reached 130% of the planned peak.
Overseas orders for domestic construction machinery companies have grown significantly since the beginning of this year. Not only have traditional advantage markets continued to consolidate, but the growth of emerging markets has also been strong.
Public data shows that sales in the North American market increased by more than 150% year-on-year, sales in the European market increased by 90% year-on-year, and sales in the African, Asia-Pacific, Japanese and Korean markets all increased by more than 60% year-on-year.
Other data from leading companies show that from January to May, company exports increased by nearly 50% year-on-year, with core products such as loaders, excavators, and graders growing particularly rapidly in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Industry import and export data show that from January to May this year, my country’s construction machinery import and export trade volume was US$28.911 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%, of which the export value was US$27.902 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.8%.
Industry analysts believe that there is relatively large room for growth in my country’s construction machinery going overseas in the future. On the one hand, my country’s construction machinery currently accounts for only 17% of the global market, and there is still much room for improvement. On the other hand, the gross profit margin of overseas construction machinery sales is much higher than domestically. Construction machinery manufacturers have sufficient motivation to go overseas, and the long-term growth trend is clear.
