Corona crisis to wipe 4% off construction equipment production

National lockdowns across Europe have severely affected the global construction equipment industry as it sees a loss of 43,000 machines this year, according to research conducted by forecasting company Off-Highway Research.

The loss equates to roughly 4% of last year’s output and its effects are most felt in Italy, Germany, France and the UK. However, there is also a significant effect in China, where Covid-19 had a huge impact and manufacturers are now trying to make up for lost time.

Off-Highway Research’s managing director Chris Sleight said: “Factory closures in China cost the industry 6% of its production. Some OEMs didn’t close at all, but most were shuttered for two to six weeks and then had to ramp up production once they re-opened. Recently, activity has increased with the expectation of government stimulus and a buying spree.”

A natural decline in the demand for equipment was predicted shortly before the pandemic.

Sleight added: “A natural decline was expected following the industry peak of 2018-19. This will likely be exacerbated by Covid-19, but we also expect a strong policy response from global governments to help their economies recover."

“As disruptive as the closures and lockdowns are at the moment, I don’t think lost production and supply chain difficulties will be the industry’s main problem this year, although it is too early to put a figure on what the impacts will be. The biggest challenge will be adapting to demand for the second half of the year. We are expecting numbers lower than what the industry has encountered over the past two years.”

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