Three Chinese enterprises have entered the top 50 global construction machinery manufacturers for the first time

The number of Chinese companies on the list has increased this year. The first companies to make the list are Lingong Heavy Machinery, Tongli Heavy Industry (834599. BJ), and Xingbang Intelligence, ranking 34th, 43rd, and 50th respectively.

 

Thirteen Chinese companies have made it onto the latest global top 50 list of construction machinery manufacturers, an increase of three compared to last year, but several companies have declined in their rankings.

 

On June 11th, the "International Construction" magazine under the global construction machinery information group KHL released the Yellow Table of the top 50 global construction machinery manufacturers for 2024.

 

The top ten on the list are Caterpillar, Komatsu, Deere, XCMG Machinery (000425. SZ), Liebherr, Sany Heavy Industry (600031. SH), Volvo Construction Equipment, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Jiexibo, and Doosan Bobcat.

 

This year's top two rankings are still dominated by American company Caterpillar and Japanese company Komatsu. Chinese enterprise XCMG Machinery fell from third to fourth place last year; John Deere, an American company, rose from fourth place to third place; Sany Heavy Industry has dropped to sixth place, down one place year-on-year.

 

Caterpillar's sales increased from $37.5 billion last year to $41 billion last year, and its proportion of total revenue on the list expanded from 16.3% to 16.8% this year; Komatsu's sales have increased, but its company's share of the total revenue on the list has decreased from 10.7% last year to 10.4%.

 

 

 

Image Source: KHL Group

 

Construction machinery is a fundamental industry that supports the national economy and is regarded as the "barometer" and "wind vane" of the national economy. It mainly includes equipment such as excavators, earthmoving and transportation machinery, lifting machinery, and compaction machinery, which are used in infrastructure construction, energy mining, and other fields.

 

According to the above list statistics, the equipment sales of the top 50 global enterprises in 2023 reached 243.4 billion US dollars, an increase of about 5.5% year-on-year, setting a new historical high.

 

 

 

 

Top 50 Global Construction Machinery Manufacturers Ranking | Image Source: KHL Group

 

It is worth mentioning that the number of Chinese companies on the list has increased this year. The first companies to be listed are Lingong Heavy Machinery, Tongli Heavy Industry (834599. BJ), and Xingbang Intelligence, ranking 34th, 43rd, and 50th respectively.

 

Lingong Heavy Machinery was established in February 2012 and is located in Jinan, Shandong. The company focuses on mining equipment, high-altitude operation machinery, special machinery, key components and other sectors.

 

Xingbang Intelligent was established on February 28, 2008, located in Changsha, Hunan, the capital of construction machinery in China. The company focuses on the research and development, manufacturing, sales, and service of various types of high-altitude work equipment.

 

In the "Top 20 Global Aerial Work Machinery Enterprises in 2023" list released by KHL Group's "International Aerial Work Machinery" magazine last month, Xingbang Intelligence jumped from 11th place to 10th place this year.

 

Tongli Heavy Industry specializes in the manufacturing of mining dump trucks. The company was established in 2004 and is located in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

 

Overall, 7 Chinese companies have experienced a decline in their rankings. Among them, Foton Lovol's ranking dropped seven places to 49th place, with the largest decline. Its sales in 2023 were 678 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%.

 

Shanhe Intelligence (002097. SZ) has dropped four places to 41st place in ranking; Liugong (000528. SZ) ranked 19th and Chinese Loong (03339. HK) ranked 32nd, both down two places from the previous year; China Railway Construction Heavy Industry (688425. SH) has dropped one place to rank 37th.

 

The rankings of Zoomlion (000157. SZ) and Shantui Corporation (000680. SZ) have not changed, ranking 12th and 31st respectively.

 

Except for the newly listed ones, Zhejiang Dingli (603338. SH), a Chinese manufacturer of high-altitude work machinery, became the only Chinese company on the top 50 list to rise in ranking, rising from 40th place last year to 39th place this year. The company was founded in 2005 and specializes in intelligent high-altitude operation equipment. It made its debut on the list in 2021.

 

Looking at other markets around the world, the development momentum in the North American region is strong. According to Off Highway Research, a research institution in the construction machinery industry, the sales volume of construction machinery in North America in 2023 is about 330000 units, an increase of 8% over the previous year, setting a new sales record in the region.

 

European host manufacturer Liebherr ranks fifth, with the other two top ten companies being Volvo Construction Equipment and Jiexi Bo.

 

In the latest list, three Japanese companies have been listed, namely Kato, Aichi, and Koga, which ranked 48-50 last year.

 

 

 

Revenue Share | Image Source: KHL Group

 

According to the Yellow Table, based on the regions where the top 50 companies are located, the proportion of sales in Asia has decreased from 44.8% in the previous year to 42.8%; From 27.2% in North America to 29%; Europe has increased from 27.5% last year to 29%.

 

By country, the United States has the highest proportion of sales revenue for construction machinery companies, reaching 28.6%; Next is Japan's 19.9%; China ranks third, with sales accounting for 17.2%, a decrease of 1 percentage point from the previous year.

 

In February of this year, Ye Dingda, Chief Economist of the China Machinery Industry Federation, pointed out in the release of the economic operation of the machinery industry in 2023 that the external market pressure and structural contradictions of the machinery industry in 2023 are combined, and the economic operation of the Chinese machinery industry still faces difficulties and problems such as insufficient demand, difficult account collection, price decline, fluctuations in the foreign trade market, and uneven internal development.

 

He stated that in 2023, China's economic recovery will show a wave like development and a tortuous path, with domestic demand recovery falling short of expectations and a sluggish mechanical product market. In recent years, the accounts receivable of the machinery industry have continued to grow rapidly, and the large scale and long recovery period of accounts receivable have become prominent issues affecting the turnover of enterprise funds and production operations.

 

At the same time, due to the rapid increase in production capacity and insufficient effective demand, as well as fierce competition in the mechanical product market and weak bargaining power, the ex factory prices of mechanical products continue to decline and the decline continues to deepen.

 

In addition, due to the trade squeeze caused by the repair of the global supply chain, the recovery of developed economies has slowed down, and multiple factors such as trade protectionism and escalating geopolitical conflicts have continued to exert downward pressure on the external demand market of the machinery industry.

KHL predicts that the sales of the top 50 companies next year may decrease. Because the sales decline in 2024 is likely to be higher than in previous years, the North American market may not be as strong as in 2023.

 

KHL also stated that although the total sales may decline from historical highs, the total sales are still almost at historical highs. The demand for products from the top 50 global host manufacturers will not disappear.