Off-Highway Research expects the number of construction machines sold in 2017 to reach 695,142 units worldwide, compared to the 650,133 pieces of equipment sold in 2016, which represented the bottom of the industry’s economic cycle. Longer term, it predicts sales rising from the low point of 650,133 units in 2016 to around 810,000 machines in 2020 – a 25% increase in four years. Managing director David Phillips said: “Sales of construction equipment last year were affected by weak economic growth worldwide and low global prices for many commodities. These factors had a knock-on effect for the demand for most types of machinery, particularly equipment used in mining and other extractive industries. However, with commodity prices rising as 2016 went on, sales picked up in a number of key markets.” The huge Chinese has been falling for the past five years but Off-Highway Research says it has now bottomed out and will return to growth this year. However, even with the 13% rise in sales forecast for 2017, demand in China will still only be 30% what it was in the boom years of 2010 and 2011. The Indian market is forecast to go from strength to strength. Equipment sales there grew 40% in 2016 thanks to an uptick in infrastructure work. This is expected to drive growth in Indian construction equipment sales for the next five years, David Phillips reckons, and as the industry matures India could emerge as a significant regional manufacturing hub, he suggests. The mature markets of Europe, Japan and North America suffered a 3% fall in sales in 2016, however. Growth is expected to return this year in Japan and North America, while the outlook in Europe is flat. In value terms, it expects the market to rise 28% over the same period, with sales increasing from US$69.8bn in 2016 to US$89.3bn in 2020. This reflects a predicted resurgence in some higher value types of equipment over the coming years, such as crawler excavators and rigid dump trucks. Worldwide sales (actual and forecast) of construction equipment, 2016-2021 (units) 2016 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020* 2021* China 119,218 134,655 144,380 153,375 161,420 168,750 Europe 140,511 140,430 143,801 141,778 144,495 146,267 India 52,619 59,295 65,770 66,270 69,895 73,470 Japan 59,700 64,245 67,410 74,960 75,460 74,960 North America 158,925 168,600 183,785 199,150 209,910 196,900 Rest of the World 119,160 127,917 136,572 143,511 149,147 149,340 Total 650,133 695,142 741,718 779,044 810,327 809,687 % Change on Previous Year -5 7 7 5 4 – * Forecast Source: Off-Highway Research Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
Sales of construction machines are set to rise by 25% , from a low of 650,133 in 2016 to about 810,000 by this year , according to market intelligence firm Off-Highway Research . Sales this year are estimated at 695,142 . Managing director David Phillips expects to see growth from US , a country that could become a "significant regional manufacturing hub", after a 40% rise in equipment sales in this year driven by infrastructure projects. Elsewhere, the US , Japan and China are expected to return to growth following a period of economic slump. By contrast, Phillips said the outlook in North America remained flat.