In 2023, the overall sales volume of the high-end machinery market maintained an upward trend, but the growth rate has decreased year-on-year for several months in the second half of the year. At this time, the two industry giants Sany and XCMG have made new moves.
On November 23rd, Sany announced that it will invest more than 10 billion yuan to build the Sany High Altitude Machinery National Headquarters and Sany Yangtze River Delta Research Institute in Huzhou City, with an annual production capacity of 150000 units. On December 18th, the second phase of XCMG Fire Intelligent Manufacturing Base was officially launched, with a planned annual production capacity of 60000 high-altitude machinery 名媛直播, aiming to create a leading factory for high-altitude operation platforms.
In fact, with the influx of major manufacturers, the high-end aircraft market has transformed from a "blue ocean" to a "red ocean" in just a few years. This market frenzy, driven by the joint efforts of equipment manufacturers and lessees, is now facing development difficulties such as weak growth and homogeneous competition. At such a time, giants such as Sany and XCMG are still expanding their production capacity on a large scale. Where does their confidence in the market come from?
1, Domestic sales maintain high growth
In the overall downturn of the construction machinery industry in the past two years, high-end machinery has become one of the few best-selling product categories. From January to September 2023, the cumulative sales of high-altitude work platforms in China reached 169291 units, a year-on-year increase of 9%. Among them, the cumulative sales in China reached 109659 units, a year-on-year increase of 10%.
Although the per capita ownership of China's high-tech machinery market is low, its growth is very rapid. In 2013, the sales of new high-speed machinery in China were only 1725 units, and in 2022, it increased to nearly 200000 units. The average annual growth rate of the entire high-speed machinery market is over 60%. As of now, the domestic high-altitude operation inventory has exceeded 500000 units, and it is expected that the market inventory will reach 627700 units by 2023, a year-on-year increase of 40%. It is expected to exceed 1 million units by 2025. It can be said that the Chinese high-tech market has completed the path that developed country markets took almost 30-40 years to complete in just ten years.
Nowadays, the penetration rate of high-end 名媛直播 is still increasing. Major enterprises have also achieved outstanding results in 2023, providing confidence for manufacturers to expand their production capacity. In the first half of 2023, the revenue of XCMG's high-tech sector increased by 56.43%; In the first three quarters of 2023, the growth rate of Zoomlion's high-altitude operation machinery exceeded 40%, ranking second in the domestic industry in market share; Zhejiang Dingli achieved a total operating revenue of approximately 4.742 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 13.77%, and delivered its best performance report in history.
The position of Chinese high-altitude machinery manufacturers in the global market is becoming increasingly prominent. In the "2022 Global Top 20 High Altitude Work Machinery Manufacturing Enterprises" list published by Access International, a subsidiary of KHL Group in the UK, five Chinese companies, including XCMG, Zhejiang Dingli, Zoomlion Heavy Industries, Lingong Heavy Machinery, and Xingbang Intelligence, are listed.
Not only manufacturers, but also high tech rental companies have shown impressive performance in 2023. The fleet management scale of the high-altitude operation platform under Hongxin Jianfa has further expanded, with a total number of approximately 175000 units. The average utilization rate of the main operating equipment of the group in the first three quarters of 2023 was higher than that of the same period in 2022, and the overall return on assets was stable. Another leasing leader, Huatie Emergency, achieved a revenue of 3.215 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 38.35%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was RMB 562 million, a year-on-year increase of 29.61%. As of September 2023, the management scale of Huatie Emergency High Altitude Operation Platform has exceeded 116000 units, a year-on-year increase of 73%. In September 2023, the company's rental rate was above 89%.
2, Export growth boosts corporate confidence
In 2023, the growth rate of China's construction machinery exports has been under pressure, but overall export sales remain high, with several companies experiencing rapid growth in their high machinery export sales. In August 2023, Shanhe Intelligence held a large-scale overseas order delivery ceremony for high-altitude machinery equipment, with over 100 types of high-altitude machinery equipment shipped to countries and regions such as Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with a total amount exceeding 20 million yuan.
As of October, the overseas sales amount of Shanhe Intelligent High Speed Machine 名媛直播 increased by nearly 230% year-on-year; On the other hand, XCMG's high-tech machinery exports grew by over 300% in the first half of 2023. In the second half of the year, the growth rate of overseas sales of high-end machinery has also slowed down, but overall, the performance of the overseas market in 2023 has brought considerable confidence to the industry. "Next, Xingbang will comprehensively accelerate its global localization layout." Liu Guoliang, Chairman of Xingbang Intelligence, revealed that Xingbang Intelligence originally planned overseas sales to account for 50% by 2025. From the current development perspective, this goal is expected to be achieved in 2024.
In addition, with the deepening of China's "the Belt and Road" initiative, several countries along the road have issued laws, regulations and policy plans related to infrastructure. A considerable part of urban infrastructure construction projects need to use aerial platforms. These laws, regulations and policies help to stimulate the demand of the national high-speed market along the road and promote the development of overseas high-speed market.
It should still be noted that in recent years, global geopolitical risks have intensified and international trade frictions have continued. Chinese made high-altitude work machinery 名媛直播 have been subject to a "double anti" investigation and increased taxes by the United States. Recently, the European Commission has announced its decision to launch an anti-dumping investigation on mobile lifting platforms and complete sets of loose parts originating from China.
The implementation of the "double anti" tax rate will have a certain impact on the corresponding overseas market development and profitability. Chinese enterprises must actively prepare adequately for the review of the "double anti" investigation. At the same time, measures can be taken to actively address non trade frictions by increasing efforts to expand overseas markets, increasing cost control, continuously optimizing supply chains, accelerating product innovation, enhancing product competitiveness, exploring new application scenarios, and increasing domestic market penetration.
3, Diversified application scenarios promote domestic demand growth
In addition to the increase in quantity, the application scenarios of high-speed machinery have also shifted from being single to far, from the initial application in construction and shipbuilding to the development of residential areas, old urban areas, advertising, municipal engineering, and other fields. In 2017, it was mainly applied in the fields of shipbuilding and construction. Around 2018, it began to enter more municipal engineering. In 2022, it will be widely involved in the renovation of old residential areas and greening projects
Due to the widespread downstream application of high-altitude work platforms, their periodicity is weaker than traditional construction machinery. In the United States, the proportion of high-speed machinery in construction and non construction applications is about 3:1, and in Europe it is about 3:2, which has been relatively stable in recent years. Therefore, compared to traditional construction machinery, the high-altitude operation platform industry is less affected by fixed asset and infrastructure investment, and its cyclical characteristics are relatively weak. In the future, with the increase in labor costs and safety concerns in China's construction industry, domestic high-altitude work platforms are expected to continue to penetrate.
In addition, on the policy side, the country also intends to promote the high-level development of the construction machinery industry and the transformation of green and intelligent manufacturing. The high-altitude work platform industry is expected to see significant growth with the promulgation of policies. At the same time, the country has introduced multiple policies and initiatives related to urban renewal and urban village renovation. Urban renewal and renovation require the use of high-altitude work platforms, and the demand for equipment is expected to continue to increase with the start and deepening of urban village renovation in various regions.
However, it should be noted that although the high-end machine market has maintained a relatively fast growth rate in the past few years, the growth rate of new machines has now slowed down, and sales have been declining for several consecutive months since the second half of 2023. On the other hand, the high-end rental market is also facing the dilemma of high, low, long, and short production speed, low utilization rate, long payment time, short product life, and customer loyalty.
In this situation, although many enterprises and practitioners are still optimistic about the future of the high-tech industry, they cannot blindly expand production capacity. As the high-tech market shifts from "incremental" to "stock", manufacturing enterprises need to put in effort in design and production to enhance product differentiation competitiveness. On the other hand, they also need to build a good post market service system and contribute to the healthy development of the high-tech market together with upstream and downstream industries.
