According to the industry statistics of China Construction Machinery Industry Association, in May 2022, a total of 20624 sets of mining machinery products were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 24.2%, and the decline was significantly narrowed.
In the domestic market, the sales volume of excavators in May was 12179 units, a year-on-year decrease of 44.8%. Although the sales growth continued to maintain a high decline, the decline has narrowed for two consecutive months. The current round of epidemic is still one of the main reasons for the continuous and sharp decline in the growth rate of domestic sales in that month. However, with the gradual improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation in the recent period, thanks to the efforts of all parties, the pace of resumption of work and production of manufacturing enterprises has been significantly accelerated since May, and the industrial economy shows signs of stabilization and improvement.
It is understood that in May, the supply chain of the industrial chain was gradually dredged, and the operating rate and capacity utilization rate of enterprises continued to increase. The equipment manufacturing industry's production replenishment was particularly obvious in that month, and its production index increased by 7.7 percentage points to 48.0% compared with the previous month.
In addition, since May, there has been a new upsurge in project investment and construction. According to the statistics of professional institutions, 6896 projects have been started across the country, with a total investment of 2846.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.0%. A large number of major projects have taken root in local areas. With the further increase of the urgency of stabilizing growth, infrastructure construction will give full play to the role of driving the growth of excavator market.
In the export market, the export sales volume of excavators in May was 8445 units, a year-on-year increase of 63.9%. The growth rate of export sales in that month rose for the first time after three consecutive months of decline, breaking the trend of declining growth since 2022.
According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs on June 9, China's total export value in May was 1.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.3%. Export growth rebounded rapidly, which was not only significantly higher than that in April (3.9%), but also significantly higher than the consensus expectation of the previous market. This indicates that the overseas market is in the stage of economic recovery. At the same time, the export market will continue to hedge the continuous decline of the domestic market to a certain extent.
In terms of tonnage structure, 1595 sets of large-scale excavation (≥ 28.5t) were sold in May, a year-on-year decrease of 43.8%; The sales volume of medium excavation (18.5~28.5t) was 2639 sets, a year-on-year decrease of 61.9%; The sales volume of small excavation (<18.5t) was 7945 sets, a year-on-year decrease of 35.4%. The year-on-year growth of sales of large, medium and small excavators was negative, of which the year-on-year decline of China excavators was the largest, more than 60%.
In terms of market share, large excavation, medium excavation and small excavation account for 13%, 22% and 65% respectively. The market share of big excavation continued to rise, reaching the highest value since 2022.
At the end of May, the State Council issued a package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy. It is expected that the infrastructure sector will receive more incremental financial support, and the investment stabilization policy will be accelerated to take effect, which is also expected to support the excavator sales. However, some insiders said that the domestic market is still in a downward cycle, and the macro policy adjustment has not yet been transmitted to the construction machinery end. It is expected that the second quarter will be the low point of the annual performance, and it is expected to rebound in the second half of the year. With the implementation of a package of economic stabilization policies and measures, the foreign trade logistics is further unblocked, and the enterprises' return to work and production capacity is further accelerated, China's Excavator export is expected to continue to maintain a stable growth momentum.
