Global construction equipment demand is expected to grow 5% next year to 690,506 units, according to the latest forecast from Off-Highway Research (OHR). The specialist forecasting and market intelligence company said 2016 would represent the cyclical low in global equipment sales, following five years of falling demand.
OHR’s latest Global Volume & Value Service report tips a gradual recovery in worldwide markets, from expected unit sales of 654,751 in 2016 to 795,150 machines in 2020. In value terms, this would see the market rise from US$72.2 billion in 2016 to US$89.3 billion in 2020.
In terms of percentage growth, India is expected to be the most buoyant major market in the near-term, with 21% growth forecast this year, and further improvements out-pacing global average growth in 2017 and 2018. The new OHR report tips it to be the only major construction equipment market to show growth in 2016.
Another positive is the anticipated return to growth of the Chinese construction equipment market in 2017. Unit sales this year are expected to come in at 104,840 machines – the lowest since 2002 and a less than a quarter of the record high of 435,070 pieces of equipment sold in 2011. However, the recovery is expected to be a gradual one, with 10% forecast for 2017, to take the market to 115,450 units. After such a dramatic collapse from 2011 – 2016, conditions are expected to remain difficult in the Chinese market.
Growth is also expected next year in European, Japanese and North American construction equipment markets, following flat or falling sales in 2015. Rest of the world markets are also expected to see growth, with sales forecast by OHR to rise 5%.
