Sales data of excavators in April was released. According to industry statistics from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, in April 2021, a total of 46,572 sets of excavation machinery products were sold, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%, although it was not as good as the previous industry consulting agencies and the media’s expectation of a “yoy growth rate of around 10.1%” But overall, the industry growth rate is in line with the market development trend.
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Compared with the high growth rate (59.9%) that just got rid of the impact of the epidemic in the same period in 2020, the excavator market sales in April 2021 have gradually returned to "rationality".
Domestic market: "cooling" is obvious
In April 2021, the domestic market sold 41,100 units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.2%. The “cooling” was obvious. After 14 months, the year-on-year growth rate of domestic excavator sales showed a negative growth again (the last time was in February 2020, -50.5 %), the decrease in growth rate is mainly due to the high base in April 2020. In addition, the month's market sales fell 43.7% from the previous month, becoming the first month of negative growth since January this year.
Export market: exceed expectations
In terms of the export market, in April 2021, the export sales of excavators exceeded expectations by 5472 units. Although there was a -9.7% decrease from the previous month, the year-on-year increase reached 166.3%. The export market continued to grow at a high rate. The improvement of epidemic control in overseas markets and the benefits brought by overseas infrastructure investment plans including the United States and India are important factors that stimulate the accelerated recovery of overseas markets. However, it is worth noting that the counterattack of the Indian epidemic in late April once again made the global new crown epidemic's gradual improvement trend full of variables. But in the long run, overseas markets still have opportunities and room for improvement.
Tonnage structure: two models show negative growth
From the perspective of the tonnage structure, the sales volume of large digging (≥30t) in April was 4496 units, an increase of -14.2% year-on-year; the sales volume of medium digging (20-30t) was 11,703 units, an increase of 1.3% year-on-year; the sales volume of small digging (<20t) was 24,901 units, a year-on-year increase of -6.3%. Among them, except for the slight year-on-year increase in China Dig, the year-on-year growth rates of the other two models both showed negative growth.
In terms of market share, large digging, medium digging, and small digging accounted for 11%, 27%, and 62%, respectively. Small digging still occupied the largest market share with an absolute advantage. And since January 2021, the proportion of the small digging market has been gradually expanding at a monthly growth rate of about 1% for three consecutive months.
Affected by the ultra-high sales data in the first three months of 2021 and the year-on-year increase, many people's expectations for the excavator market sales have also been mobilized to a high point. Although the growth rate of only 2.5% has dropped significantly compared with the same period last year, some insiders said that this does not mean that the turning point of the industry's business cycle has arrived. In view of the fact that the development of China's construction machinery industry over the years does not completely coincide with the generality of the world's construction machinery development law, it can always show its particularity in a "outstanding" attitude. Therefore, industry insiders generally believe that the excavator market will continue to grow rapidly in 2021. potential.
