The rapid urbanization leading to the booming demand for housing projects and increasing investments in the infrastructure sector across the globe are the major factors driving the growth of the global construction equipment market. The market generated revenue of ~$180 billion in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced governments all over the world to impose multiple lockdowns, which resulted in partial or fully closed factories. Furthermore, movement restrictions and social distancing measures caused construction activities to stop, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus. As a result, the demand for construction equipment drastically reduced.
The market is categorized into earth moving machinery, material handling machinery, and concrete & road construction machinery, based on product. Among these, the earth moving machinery category is expected to dominate the market in the forecast period. This will mainly be because these machines perform a wide array of tasks, including foundation laying, soil grading, dirt and rock removal, trench digging, and demolition.
The 101–200 horsepower (HP) category accounted for the majority share in 2020, based on power output. This was primarily due to the increasing use of construction equipment with a horsepower range of 101–200 because of its several benefits. A favorable power-to-weight ratio enables it to provide improved fuel efficiency and lower operating costs for equipment operators and contractors.
The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is expected to be the fastest-growing market for construction equipment till 2030. The key factor responsible for this would be the increasing number of construction projects in order to cater to the rising urban population. This is especially being seen in China, Japan, India, and South Korea, where the large-scale residential infrastructure development is supporting the construction equipment industry.
Players in the construction equipment market are constantly introducing new products in order to enhance their foothold. For instance, in March 2020, Komatsu unveiled a new electric mini excavator in Japan, targeted primarily at the rental industry. The PC30E-5 delivers excavation performance comparable to internal combustion models with a similar power output, while emitting no exhaust and reducing the vehicle’s noise significantly.
In April 2019, AB Volvo announced that in 2020, it will start the launch of a range of electric wheel loaders (L20 to L28) and compact excavators (EC15 to EC27) and end the development of diesel engines for these models. The company says that the diesel engine remains the most-appropriate power source for its larger machines, but the electric propulsion and battery technology is proving particularly suited to its smaller equipment.
The major players operating in the global construction equipment market include Caterpillar Inc., Hitachi Construction Machinery, Volvo Construction Equipment, Liebherr AG, Terex Corporation, Doosan Infracore, Joseph Cyril Bamford Excavators Ltd., Deere & Company, and Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd.