China’s excavator sales for both domestic and overseas markets during April declined on year for the twelfth consecutive month, falling by 47.3% on year to 24,534 units, according to the latest data from the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) on May 10. This was also lower by 33.8% on month.
The CCMA survey among the country’s 26 major excavator producers showed that their domestic sales last month totaled 16,032 units, down 61% on year or 39.6% on month.
During April, many cities across China recorded higher caseloads of the COVID-19 virus, disrupting logistics and slowing operations at construction sites, while soaring commodity prices prompted by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine affected funding for infrastructure projects, a Shanghai-based source argued, both of which dampened demand for excavators.
Last month, Chinese excavator sales for overseas buyers jumped by 55.2% on year to 8,502 units, though this was lower by 19.2% on month, the CCMA data showed. Higher freight rates driven by the pandemic, together with increasingly complicated international trade arrangements, led to the narrowing of on-year growth in exports, she added.
Over January-April, total excavator sales inside and outside China plunged by 41.4% on year to 101,709 units. Among the total, domestic sales accounted for 66.8% of the total or 67,918 units, slumping by 56.1% on year, according to the CCMA data.
Meanwhile, China’s excavator exports surged by 78.9% on year to 33,791 units in the first four months of 2022, the CCMA data said.
Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an exchange agreement between MySteel Global and SteelMint.
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