US construction machine exports remain low

According to the US-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), exports of machines from the US remain at a low level. The AEM’s analysis shows that exports of US-made construction equipment were down 24% overall at midyear 2016 compared to the first half of 2015. In all machines worth US$5.65 billion were shipped to global markets.
September 1, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

According to the US-based 1100 Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), exports of machines from the US remain at a low level. The AEM’s analysis shows that exports of US-made construction equipment were down 24% overall at midyear 2016 compared to the first half of 2015. In all machines worth US$5.65 billion were shipped to global markets.

Europe was the sole region with to see a gain in sales, increasing 2%. South America and Africa led the double-digit declines, according to the AEM report, citing US Department of Commerce data.

For the January-June 2016 period, US construction equipment exports to Canada dropped 23% compared with the same period in 2015, reaching a total turnover of $2.4 billion. Sales to Europe gained 2% compared with the previous year, reaching a total of $898 million. Sales to Central America fell 7% for the first half of 2016 when compared with 2015, reaching a total of $696 million. Sales to Asia decreased 28% for this time period, reaching a total of $664 million. Sales to South America plummeted 49% for the first half of 2016 compared with 2015, delivering a total sales value of $504 million. The US machine sales in Australia/Oceania fell 30% to $294 million while sales to Africa dropped 43% to $220 million.

“For the past 14 quarters, US exports of construction equipment have declined year over year and at the midpoint in 2016, that trend remains unchanged,” said AEM’s Benjamin Duyck, director of market intelligence. “With the global economic malaise, the slowdown in emerging markets and the negative interest rates in several economies’ bond markets, investment is flowing to the US and US stocks, driving up demand for the US dollar, inadvertently affecting our competitiveness abroad.”

The top countries buying the most US-made construction machinery during the first half of 2016 Canada with $2.4 billion (down 23%), Mexico at $561 million (down 7%) and Australia at $273 million (down 29%). Next came Belgium at $204 million and up 39% and Germany at $148 million and up 32%.

Finance & Funding

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Volvo Construction Equipment’s Q1 2015 sales down 5% due to weak Asia sales
    April 23, 2015
    An improvement in European and North American sales could not offset continued weakness in Asia leading to Volvo Construction Equipment sales falling by 5% year-on-year in Q1 2015. Sales in China in particular were less than half what they were in the same period of 2014, the Swedish sector giant said. “We are working to adapt to lower volumes and are implementing a series of measures to reduce cost levels. However, our efforts could not fully offset the significant drop in volumes,” said Volvo Const
    Read More
  • Italian construction machine market growing
    May 4, 2016
    A slow but steady improvement in machine sales is being observed in Italy as the market recovers. Over the first three months of 2016, 1,977 construction machines have been sold into the Italian market, according to the country’s construction equipment manufacturing association, the UNACEA. This gain in sales represents an increase of 29% compared to the same period in 2015. The sales were for 1,879 earthmoving machines and 76 road machines.
    Read More
  • Construction machine sales strengthening in Italy
    November 28, 2016
    Construction machine sales are strengthening around the globe. A report from the SaMoTer-Veronafiere Outlook reveals that 7,551 construction machines were sold in Italy over the period from January-September 2016. This represents a gain of 32% from the same period in 2015 and a further increase of 37% is estimated in Italy for the two-year period 2017-2018. Worldwide the first nine months of 2016 saw sales around the world of 496,500 earth moving machines, a drop of around 5,000 less (1%) compared to th
    Read More
  • 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.
    Read More

Highlighted Content