Global sales of earth moving machinery in 2018 accelerated sharply – up 23% on 2017 to top out at 1 million units.
The record result in 2018 was driven by a combination of several factors. One of these factors is investments in construction on a global scale in excess of €7,150 billion, as highlighted by data analysed by Prometeia for SaMoTer Outlook 2019, the sector observatory presented today at Veronafiere during the 5th edition of SaMoTer Day. The event is one of the stages in the run up to the 31st edition of SaMoTer, the international construction equipment fair to be in Verona at Veronafiere in March 2020.
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In most parts of the world, the market posted two-figure growth, attaining new peaks in the US (+36%), India (+48%), China (+35%) and the rest of the world (+20%). North America and China were the driving forces behind almost two-thirds of overall growth. They had a combined market share of 50%, followed by Western Europe (18% of market share) and India (7% of the world market).
Western Europe, however, had a growth rate of just 3% and 182,000 machines sold – an expected slowdown. The market leader for sales is Germany (23%), closely followed by the UK (22%).
Italy ranks fourth, with a market share of 9%.
On the other hand, Spain performed well in 2018 (+48% on the previous year), as well as Italy (+16%) and the UK (+9%). More modest growth, however, saw seen for France (4%), Belgium (2%) and the Netherlands (1%).
There was a somewhat surprising setback of -8% in Germany, partly because of a shift on the market towards larger machines. On closer analysis, Germany’s market share in Western European decreased by 3% compared to 2017.
In Central & Eastern Europe, the market giants are Russia (42% of the global market) and Poland (18%of global sales). These two countries were the driving force in 2018 for increased sales, with particularly significant growth rates: +59% for Poland and +32% for Russia. The third player in this region is Turkey (16% market share), having been overtaken by Poland in just two years, posting a downturn in 2018 of 32%.
Earth moving machinery market in 2018 was characterised by sustained and widespread growth for all types of plant: track-laying excavators (+25%), mini-excavators (+15%), wheel loaders (+19%) and compact mini loaders (+41%).
A significant trend is especially emerging on mature markets highlighting a shift towards light equipment, according to data processed by Prometeia. In China, demand for mini-excavators in 2018 was almost 20% of total equipment demand, up from 10% in 2010.
