The KHL Group’s annual Yellow Table survey is out, and it shows record sales in global construction equipment.
The survey states that overall equipment sales for the 50 largest construction equipment manufacturers grew by 25 per cent in 2011 to US$182 billion.
The previous record for sales in the industry was US$168 billion, which was set in 2008, before the global financial crisis.
There was no movement within the top two manufacturers around the world. U.S.-based Caterpillar continued to sit at the top of the rankings in the No. 1 position, while Japan’s Komatsu held on to the No. 2 spot.
Both companies have sat in their respective No. 1 and No. 2 positions for more than a decade.
Companies that moved up the top-10 rankings included: Volvo Construction Equipment (Sweden – 3rd overall, 4th overall in 2011), Sany (China – 6th overall, 7th overall in 2011), Zoomlion (China – 7th overall, 8th overall in 2011), Terex (U.S. – 8th overall, 10th overall in 2011) and John Deere (10th overall, 12th overall in 2011).
Hitachi Construction Machinery fell to fourth overall, down from third in 2011 (the companies’ revenues were within 0.5 per cent of Volvo).
South Korea’s Doosan Infracore fell from the sixth overall spot to ninth, while China-based XCMG fell out of the top 10, after sitting in the 10th overall position for two consecutive years.
Denmark’s Liebherr held steady in the No. 5 spot.
U.S.-based companies accounted for 31.2 per cent of total revenues within the top 50 companies, up from 29.5 per cent from the 2011 edition of the Yellow Table. Companies based out of Japan were second with a share of 23.2 per cent, down slightly from 23.5 per cent in 2011, followed by China-based companies, which accounted for 16.9 per cent of sales, up from 15 per cent in 2011.
The share of revenues from China’s construction equipment manufacturers within the top 50 has increased for six consecutive years, and has grown ten-fold over the last decade.
In 2003, the Yellow Table stated that China’s manufacturers had 1.6 per cent share of revenues, totaling US$841 million. This year’s Yellow Table shows China’s share worth US$30.6 billion.
Chris Sleight, author of the Yellow Table, stated that the key drivers for 2011 sales were a rebound in the European, North American and Japanese construction markets, as well as growth within some of China’s larger companies.
He added that North America’s continued recovery would likely play a decisive role in the 2013 Yellow Table.
The following is the 2012 Yellow Table’s top 10 world’s largest construction equipment manufacturers:
1 Caterpillar (U.S.)
2 Komatsu (Japan)
3 Volvo Construction Equipment (Sweden)
4 Hitachi Construction Machinery (Japan)
5 Liebherr (Denmark)
6 Sany (China)
7 Zoomlion (China)
8 Terex (U.S.)
9 Doosan infracore (South Korea)
10 John Deere (U.S.)
The top-10 rankings are based on revenues from construction equipment sales in US Dollars in 2011.
To purchase a copy of the Yellow Table, visit KHL’s information store at: www.khl.com/information-store
