What’s new: Exports of Chinese excavators outpaced domestic sales in the first two months of 2023, an industry group said, as analysts pointed to growing demand from the Middle East and Latin America.
China’s major manufacturers exported 16,964 excavators in the two-month period, up 14.9% year-on-year. That contrasted sharply with domestic sales, which fell 41.1% to 14,929 excavators during the period, according to the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA).
The weak domestic demand caused overall excavator sales to drop 20.4% to 31,893 during the period, the CCMA data showed.
The context: Despite the global economic slowdown and an anemic property market at home, Chinese construction-machinery makers are still finding a market for their products from new mining investment in some Latin American countries and Indonesia, analysts at Industrial Securities Co. Ltd. said in a March 8 report.
Meanwhile, China’s deepening cooperation with the Middle East, where many countries are participants in Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure-building initiative, could also drive exports of its construction equipment to the region, the report said.
Last week, China helped facilitate the signing of an agreement to restore diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which analysts said could boost construction activity along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative.
In December 2022, the value of Chinese excavator exports to Saudi Arabia hit a record high of $67.92 million, according to customs data.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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