Skip to main content

UK exports and imports of construction equipment are up 21% in Q3 2017

UK exports of construction and earthmoving equipment remained buoyant for the first nine months 2017, showing a 21% increase compared with the same period 2016. Imports of equipment also remained strong, showing a 12% increase in the same period over 2016. In the third quarter 2017, exports equipment showed a further modest increase for the fourth consecutive quarter. Exports in Q3 were 1.3% up on Q2 levels at €807 million (£723 million). This was the highest quarterly level for more than two years
November 28, 2017 Read time: 3 mins
UK exports of construction and earthmoving equipment remained buoyant for the first nine months 2017, showing a 21% increase compared with the same period 2016.
 
Imports of equipment also remained strong, showing a 12% increase in the same period over 2016.

In the third quarter 2017, exports equipment showed a further modest increase for the fourth consecutive quarter. Exports in Q3 were 1.3% up on Q2 levels at €807 million (£723 million). This was the highest quarterly level for more than two years, since Q2 2015.

The increasing levels of exports of equipment can be attributed to both improving demand in many of the major overseas markets, as well as the benefit of the weaker £ exchange rate since the middle of 2016, following the Brexit referendum.

Japan remains the single biggest source of imports in 2017, accounting for 20% of total imports of equipment in the first nine months of the year on a monetary basis.

Overall, the UK remains a net exporter of construction and earthmoving equipment, measured in both weight and monetary terms. In Q3, the trade surplus increased significantly to €425 million (£381 million), the highest quarterly level since 2014. In the first nine months of the year, the export surplus has shown a 33% increase on the same period in 2016.

The US remained top destination for UK exports in the first nine months of 2017, accounting for 23% of total exports on a monetary value basis. Exports to the European Union’s 28 member countries increased to 44% of total exports on a monetary basis in the first nine months of the year, compared with 41% in 2016.

Imports of equipment showed a reduction in Q3, following the same seasonal pattern as the past two years, “peaking” in April-June quarter and “bottoming” in October-December.

However, in monetary value, imports in Q3 were 6% higher than the same quarter in 2016, at nearly €382 million (£342 million). In the first nine months of 2017, imports are 12% higher than the same period in 2016, at about €1,260 million (£1,128 million).
 
Higher levels of imports of equipment in the first nine of the year are consistent with higher equipment sales to the UK market, according to the UK construction equipment data exchange. This shows an increase of 6% in equipment sales in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2016. The UK construction equipment data exchange is operated by Systematics International, a specialist data processing company to whose data the CEA has access.

Data used in the CEA report is taken from the government’s official trade statistics. It covers construction and earth moving equipment, excluding separate trade data for components and parts.

Related Content

  • Earthmoving machine sales improved
    April 2, 2019
    have increased since the second half of 2017. In particular, in Germany and France the main constraint is a shortage of labour, while in Spain or the United Kingdom the main brake is demand. Sustained dynamics for investments in Central Eastern Europe, with the exception of the construction market in Turkey, going decidedly against the trend compared to 2017. Overall, however, the implementation of EU funds during the 2014-2020 programming cycle has supported construction, particularly civil engineering.
  • Caterpillar’s strong financial performance for 2017
    January 26, 2018
    Caterpillar has announced strong fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2017. Sales and revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017 were US$12.9 billion, compared with $9.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. Fourth-quarter 2017 loss was $2.18/share, compared with a loss of $2/share in the fourth quarter of 2016.
  • European equipment sales up 15% in 2017, according to the CECE
    March 16, 2018
    European construction sales grew by 15% in 2017, according to the Annual Economic Report 2018* from the CECE - Committee for European Construction Equipment. After a very strong first quarter, growth slowed down in the second quarter, before taking off again in Q3 and Q4. Current levels of sales are on par with the levels seen in 2006 and 2008, but the industry is still 20% below the 2007 peak.
  • Italian manufacturer body Unacea reveals machine exports
    October 31, 2014
    The Italian construction equipment manufacturer body Unacea has revealed comprehensive information on machine sales and exports. The data shows that construction machine sales in Italy grew 12% in the first nine months of 2014. However exports fell 7% and Unacea believes that the export performance of Italian manufacturers on the world market will have shrunk by the end of the year compared with the figures for 2013. Over the first nine months of 2014, construction equipment sold in the Italian market sto