The construction machinery industry continues to recover, with a slight year-on-year decrease in domestic sales of excavators in January and stable growth in exports.
According to the China Construction Machinery Industry Association on February 11th, in January 2025, major domestic excavator companies sold 12512 units of various types of excavators, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%. Among them, domestic sales were 5405 units, a year-on-year decrease of 0.3%; The export volume was 7107 units, a year-on-year increase of 2.19%. In addition, 18 electric excavators were sold.
During the same period, major domestic loader companies sold 7920 units of various types of loaders, a year-on-year increase of 1.51%. Among them, the domestic sales volume was 3706 units, a year-on-year decrease of 1.01%; The export volume was 4214 units, a year-on-year increase of 3.84%. In addition, 1086 electric loaders were sold.
January of this year coincides with the Spring Festival holiday, while last year's Spring Festival holiday began in February. The combination of holidays and staggered Spring Festival has a significant impact on the domestic sales and year-on-year growth rate of excavators for that month.
In the current month, the construction machinery operating rate and duration reflecting the heat of engineering construction increased year-on-year.
According to statistics from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, the average working hours of major construction machinery products in January were 74.6 hours, a year-on-year increase of 3.61% and a month on month decrease of 20.6%; The operating rate of the main products was 56.2%, an increase of 1.43 percentage points year-on-year and a decrease of 8 percentage points month on month.
Excavators are a barometer reflecting the construction machinery industry. The prosperity of this industry is mainly influenced by factors such as changes in downstream demand for real estate, infrastructure, exports, and the update cycle of its own equipment.
In terms of infrastructure, the issuance of special bonds has become a key focus to support infrastructure investment. According to Wind data, in January, the total scale of newly issued special bonds in various regions reached 204.802 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 260.7%. In terms of real estate, thanks to the support of a series of policies last year, there are signs of stabilization in the real estate market. According to monitoring data from the CRIC Research Center, in January, the transaction area of commercial residential properties in 30 key cities across the country reached 9.27 million square meters, with a year-on-year increase of 1% from negative to positive.
China International Capital Corporation (CICC) stated that in 2025, infrastructure investment is expected to achieve a slight increase, driven by fiscal strengthening and the issuance of bonds, with an expected growth rate of around 10%. However, real estate investment may still be under pressure.
The construction machinery industry is still bustling with going global, with excavator exports accounting for 56.8% of total sales in January.
In addition, several leading construction machinery companies have achieved a good start in the Year of the Snake, with overseas orders accounting for a considerable proportion.
On February 3rd, various business units under Sany Group held groundbreaking and launch ceremonies, with multiple new products embarking on a new journey in the Year of the Snake. Among them, Sany Pump Road Business Unit has achieved a sales revenue of 1.12 billion yuan at the beginning of 2025, with a year-on-year increase of 50% in overseas markets. On that day, the business unit sent over 450 devices to various parts of the world.
On February 7th, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd. held a grand opening event for 2025 in various parks across the country, with a total of over 10000 vehicles dispatched and a total amount of approximately 5.7 billion yuan. Among them, over 1100 high-altitude mechanical equipment have been sent to various parts of the world. 60% of the high-altitude operation machinery that departed this time were sent to high-end markets such as Europe and America, and most of them were new energy products.
At present, we have a large number of orders on hand, and we are confident that we can achieve significant growth on the basis of doubling our overseas sales revenue by 2024 this year, "said Liu Jiancun, Overseas Marketing Director of Zoomlion Intelligent High Tech Machinery.
Su Zimeng, President of the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, stated that by 2025, the country will implement a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy, playing a good policy "combination punch". With the increase of macroeconomic regulation, favorable factors supporting the stable operation and high-quality development of the industry will continue to increase, and the development environment of the construction machinery industry will continue to improve.
CMB International stated in its research report that the replacement cycle combined with increased government policy stimulus will help stabilize machinery demand, and it is expected that excavators will achieve dual growth in the Chinese market and export market by 2025.
Huafu Securities also stated that driven by equipment updates, environmental policies, and subsidies, it is expected that the demand for excavator updates will gradually release after 2025 in China. Overseas market expansion, especially in the "the Belt and Road" countries, will continue to bring growth points to domestic construction machinery enterprises.