China beats North America and Eurozone in construction equipment sales

Figures from 2012 indicate the Chinese market has assumed an increasingly pivotal role in the global construction machinery sector, beating out both North America and the Eurozone in terms of total sales value.

A total of $100 billion in mobile construction machinery was sold around the world last year according to figures from Off-Highway-Research. Of this amount, nearly $30 billion was sold in China, as compared to $22 billion in North America and $12 billion in Europe.

China managed to log these impressive sales figure despite a 30 per cent decline in the domestic market in 2012.

In a press release, the German Engineering Federation said that the figures highlight the increasing importance of China, which despite short-term difficulties is destined to become the world’s leading market for construction machinery.

“At the moment the country is facing financing problems and surplus capacities on its domestic market,” the release reads. “Experts believe China will overcome this situation within the next 18 months. In the long-run, this country will be and remain the top market for construction machinery again.”

Analysts believe that after 2012’s sharp sales decline, China’s construction machinery market will continue to struggle this year as a result of large volumes of unsold inventory, which will be only partially alleviated by the peak purchasing season which follows the end of the Lunar New Year.

China’s construction machinery market was severely hampered last year by a decline in orders and timely payments from state-owned companies, and was shaken by allegations of improper accounting and malfeasance by domestic companies. ERA Mining Machinery was accused of inflating its value prior to its purchase by industry giant Caterpillar, while allegations that Zoomlion Heavy Machinery fabricated its sales figure have since caused the company’s share price to tumble by 15 per cent.

Despite these recent travails, China remains the leading market for construction equipment, as the world’s most populous country continues to urbanize and its economic growth maintains a robust momentum.

According to figures from MarketResearch.com China’s total share of global sales of construction equipment rose from nine per cent in 2005 to 40 per cent in 2010, while the Chinese market accounted for 56.9 per cent of the Asian earth moving equipment market in 2011. (Source: Design Build Source)