In previous years, June was usually the traditional off-season for the construction machinery industry, but in 2026, there was a hot scene of “the off-season is not off-season”.
Visits to many production bases show that the production lines of many companies are operating at full capacity, electrified products are even more difficult to find, and the delivery cycle of some orders has been significantly extended.
In a construction 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 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 relevant person in charge of the company’s production side said that in the face of a blowout of orders, the production line was operating at full capacity, the production capacity utilization rate was full, the output of the complete machine increased significantly year-on-year, and the order demand increased by nearly 50% year-on-year. Among them, the performance of electric loaders was particularly impressive, with orders increasing by 100% year-on-year, and single-day delivery records were constantly being refreshed.
Not only the production base in Guangxi, but also many construction machinery companies in Changsha are full of orders.
The relevant production person in charge said that as the market penetration rate of electrified products continues to rise this year, orders are booming across the board. Orders that could be delivered in the same month in previous years will now be delayed by two months.
In previous years, the peak season of the industry usually ended before June and came to an end around May. However, the demand for orders in 2026 will continue to be strong and is expected to extend until July. According to the current delivery schedule, all orders in June may not be completed until August. Currently, all companies are accelerating the production pace and making every effort to ensure delivery.
Public industry data shows that from January to May 2026, sales of new energy engineering machinery in my country maintained a good 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 penetration rate of electrified products in domestic and foreign markets is expected to accelerate.
While the domestic market is “not slow in the off-season”, overseas markets are also performing well.
In the first five months of 2026, my country’s construction machinery exports continued to grow at a high rate, with many companies breaking through the upper limit of production capacity, and the logistics and delivery rhythm also changed from “monthly concentration” to “normalization.”
At the crane production base in Ningxiang, Hunan, the production line has exceeded the maximum capacity of the original design. According to the relevant person in charge, the overseas order volume in 2026 has increased by 30% compared with last year, and is showing a monthly growth trend. The volume of customer orders has exceeded the historical peak, and the production capacity has also been breaking through the historical record. The current production capacity has reached the planned peak, which is 30% higher than the original plan.
During the visit, it was found that the overseas orders of construction machinery companies have grown significantly since 2026. Not only have traditional advantage markets continued to consolidate, but the growth of emerging markets has also been strong.
Data shows that sales in the North American market increased by more than 150%, sales in the European market increased by 90%, and sales in the African, Asia-Pacific, and Japanese and Korean markets all increased by more than 60%; core products such as loaders, excavators, graders, etc., have particularly outstanding export growth rates in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Industry trade data shows that from January to May 2026, 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 say that there is still 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 world, and the market share still has a lot of room for improvement. On the other hand, the gross profit margin of overseas construction machinery sales is much higher than domestic, and construction machinery manufacturers also have strong motivation to go overseas. In the future, the industry is expected to maintain a high growth trend of domestic + overseas dual-wheel drive.
