German construction equipment industry continues to grow

The order intake in the construction equipment (CE) industry allows manufacturers with production sites in Germany to look forward to 2022 with peace of mind. When companies will be able to achieve turnover, on the other hand, is an open question, as materials continue to be in short supply and supply chain problems are delaying the production of CE. The statistics clearly show a gap between incoming orders and turnover.In 2021, the construction machinery and building material plant sector achieved a 22-percentage increase in turnover of 16.7 billion Euros compared to the same period of the previous year. The CE sector achieved a nominal increase of 18% to 12.4 billion Euros. Incoming orders were up 53%. Export turnover was 8.1 billion Euros; domestic turnover was 4.3 billion Euros. It is gratifying that building construction, earthmoving and road construction machinery show a homogeneous distribution.Road construction machinery achieved the highest increase in turnover with 22%. This development catapults the industry back to the record level of 2018-19. Nevertheless, expectations for turnover are cautious this year. The biggest risk, in the experience of many manufacturers, lies in the ongoing disruptions to supplies.“We are pushing a wave of orders ahead of us that we will probably have to carry into 2023 if the situation remains like this,” fears Joachim Strobel, chairman of the VDMA's CE division. “Despite full order books, the industry can only expect a maximum increase in turnover of 7% for the current year. Profit will also fall short of our expectations because we have to contend with enormously increased costs.”The USA, Europe and China remain the most important market regions and together account for 75% of the global market. CE sales in 2021 increased by 30% in the US and 28% in Europe compared to the same period last year. China weakened with a 7% decline. Globally, sales rose 18% overall, 32% excluding China. Nevertheless, the country remains the largest single market.The US market is promising for the next few years. Thanks to extensive economic stimulus programmes, golden times could dawn for the construction sector in the US. In Europe, too, the economic stimulus programmes launched in the pandemic will have a supporting effect in the next two to three years. In China, the development is uncertain; the risk of a real estate crisis is still present.In Germany, sales of CE rose by almost 10% last year, and demand from the customer industries remains high in the current year. This boom will even be able to defy the shortage of skilled workers and material bottlenecks.