2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. The year-round economic operation has made steady progress and is in an important period of strategic opportunities. At the same time, it is also a key year for China's construction machinery to go through great changes and enter high-quality development.
Great Changes in China's Construction Machinery in 2018
A new round of growth theme: risk control!
Since the industry warmed up in 2016, the industry's forecast for 2018 has been rising from high to low, to follow the industry all the way up. This year, the industry is less restless and more calm. According to the industry statistics of Excavation Machinery Branch of China Construction Machinery Industry Association, the sales of nine major products in China Construction Machinery Industry increased by 25.5% in 2018 compared with the same period last year. Among them, the sales of excavators exceeded 200,000 units, reaching a historical peak, up 45.0% year-on-year. Loaders sold nearly 120,000 units, an increase of more than 20%. Sales of truck cranes exceeded 30,000 units, an increase of 58% year on year. After the last round of deep market adjustment, the obvious difference between this growth period and the previous round is that it is healthier. Enterprise inventory has basically been cleared, risk control is more stringent, no longer appear before zero down payment and other high-risk marketing. Even some well-known manufacturers would rather lose part of the order, cancel the installment and sell the whole money, but also to ensure marketing safety. Market demand has also shifted from short-term stimulus to just-needed adjustment. Whether from the market or producers, they have entered a new period of more stable development.
Environmental Protection Upgrading: Speed-up of New Energy
The state's increasing emphasis on environmental protection has accelerated the development and production of new energy equipment. In August 2018, Caterpillar developed a battery-powered LHD loader R1300, the first pure electric mining equipment developed by Caterpillar. Shandong Lingong released E660F-EX, a pure electric concept small excavator, at the BMW exhibition in Shanghai in 2018. This concept excavator marks Shandong Lingong's first involvement in electromechanical business. Recently, Volvo Construction Equipment announced that it will launch the Volvo brand of all-electric Volvo small wheel loaders and excavators in 2020. The first batch of electric equipment will appear during the Bauma exhibition in Munich in April, and will be gradually promoted in other markets around the world in 2020. When the state pays more and more attention to the environmental protection production of enterprises, new energy products such as electric power and natural gas will be on the historical stage one after another.
Lending Force: Joint Strong and Strong to Rise Up
If a product has good market prospects and lacks corresponding technology, merger and acquisition is a feasible shortcut, and also a way for group enterprises to become bigger and stronger. On the first day of Shanghai BMW exhibition in 2018, China Unicom announced that it would acquire 100% equity of Wilbert, a leading manufacturer of tower cranes in the world, and enter the European high-end tower crane market from a high starting point, eventually achieving full-scale coverage of the global tower crane business of China Unicom. On the second day of the exhibition, Lingong Group and Dena Group cooperated strategically. Dena Group is a leading global supplier of transmission systems, seals and heat management products. Lingong and Dena will cooperate in driving axles, torque converters, gearboxes of underground trackless scrapers and hydraulic products of high altitude working platforms in an all-round way so as to run off Lingong high altitude working platforms.
Guo IV: Forcing Enterprises to Improve Quality
For producers, the most important thing at present is the forthcoming implementation of the Fourth Non-Road Country. The switchover of the fourth country is fundamentally different from the previous two to three countries. Industry experts said that the difficulty of the switch is no less than the impact of the road machinery industry. The biggest difficulty is to add a post-processing system, while the quality requirements of other parts such as the whole machine structure are higher. This undoubtedly prompts manufacturers to improve product quality in all directions. According to the visit by the editors of China Construction Machinery Business Network, all the engine enterprises are ready and the whole machine manufacturers are ready to start. Some of the Fourth Enterprise Products have come out. Fiat, Scandinavia, Cummins, Weichai, Yuchai, Perkins and other enterprises launched Non-Road Four Engines at the 2008 Shanghai BMW Exhibition. Volvo, Shantuo and other whole machine manufacturers have also launched the Fourth National Product. Guo 4 switch, so that the quality of the entire industry to improve again. However, the change of user's concept is also an important aspect of Guosi handover.
Industry Benefits from Business Environment Optimization
After the industry downturn, a good business environment is particularly important for the development of construction machinery enterprises. China ranks 46th, up 32 from last year, according to the World Bank's Business Environment Report 2019: Training for Reform. At present, China is further expanding its opening to the outside world and taking firm steps to deepen its reform. The continuous improvement of business environment will provide better conditions for the healthy development of all construction machinery enterprises. During the two sessions this year, Liang Wengen, chairman of Sany Heavy Industries, said frankly that "business increase" has improved the efficiency of the enterprise and "release control clothing" has improved the efficiency of the enterprise, both of which have stimulated the vitality of Sany Group. Lee Haozhi, President of Dooshan Construction Machinery China, said that the success of China's reform and opening-up has promoted world economic development, and the business environment of foreign-funded enterprises in China will be more perfect in the future. The optimization of business environment will be an important advantage for the whole construction machinery.
2018 is the key year for the implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan, and also the year of great change for China's construction machinery after its restorative growth. In 2019, the strategy of economic belt development, urban agglomeration development and Rural Revitalization came to the ground. The development of the strategy of "one belt and one road" will provide a new growth momentum for the construction machinery industry.