Exports of US-made construction equipment fell 17% for the first half of 2015 compared to the first half of 2014, with US$7.4 billion of products shipped to global markets.
All world regions experienced declines, with Africa’s the steepest, according to the
Exports to Canada dropped 12% to $3.1 billion; to South America by 23% to $990 million; to Asia by 11% to $923 million; and to Europe by 14% to $878 million. Meanwhile, exports from the US to Central America dropped by 21% to $748 million; to Australia/Oceania by 10% to $417 million; and to Africa by 44% to $385 million.
“The second quarter of 2015 marked the 10th consecutive quarter that U.S. construction equipment exports experienced year over year declines and the 7th consecutive quarter that imports rose. While exports decreased for every major region, the only equipment category we noticed some export growth in were generator sets,” says AEM’s Benjamin Duyck, director of market intelligence.
“While the US market remains stable overall, the US trade balance for our industry continues to slump. It is hard to pinpoint the exact cause of this situation, as there are many issues at play here.
“First of all, a stronger US dollar is making US manufacturers less competitive. In September 2015, the Broad Weighted Trade Index for the US Dollar, provided to us by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, had grown 18.2 percent compared to January 2014 and 21.5 percent compared to January 2013.
“A second issue is the global deterioration of demand due to cyclical and structural issues,” continues Duyck. “As investment is flowing from the emerging markets back to the developed western nations, demand for construction equipment travels with it. While not all emerging markets are hit evenly, we can expect the current Chinese downturn to have effect on our markets also. Naturally, shifts in investments allow for growth elsewhere.”
The top countries buying the most US-made construction machinery during the first half of 2015 (by dollar volume) were Canada - $3.1 billion, down 12%; Mexico - $602 million, down 22%; Australia - $387 million, down 9%; Chile - $273 million, down 9%; Brazil - $268 million, down 25%; South Africa - $206 million, down 48%; Peru - $192 million, down 31%; Belgium - $147 million, down 30%; China - $140 million, down 26%; and Saudi Arabia - $124 million, down 40%.
