Machinery / Industrial Parts & Tools

Since the beginning of this year, domestic construction machinery manufacturers have been extremely busy. From production workshops to sales channels, they are often at full capacity. Orders from home and abroad have filled their schedules.

The order is soft! Domestically-made machinery is selling well all over the world

The reporter came to Sany Heavy Industry, a construction machinery company in Changsha, Hunan. In the production workshop, the latest models of machinery and equipment are neatly arranged. Orders are being sent to all parts of the world through logistics. Huang Dong is the head of the International Logistics Department of Sany Heavy Industry. He told reporters that overseas orders grew rapidly in the first half of the year, and he and his colleagues often worked overtime until around 1 am.

Huang Dong, Supervisor of the International Business Department of Sany Logistics: Like Europe, the United States, Latin America, and Africa, there are a large backlog of orders in hand, and the ones that are still to be produced, especially our excavators, have grown very rapidly this year. The amplitude reached 160%.

Data shows that in 2020, Sany Heavy Industry will sell 98,705 excavators, occupying 15% of the global excavator market, and won the global excavator sales champion for the first time. In the first half of this year, sales continued to expand, and the company's performance reached a new high.

Statistics from China Construction Machinery Industry Association show that from January to June 2021, 26 major domestic excavator manufacturers sold a total of 223,833 excavators, a year-on-year increase of 31.3%; of which, 193,700 were domestic, a year-on-year increase of 24.3%; and 30,133 were exported. , A year-on-year increase of 107%.

Not only excavators, but tower cranes were also very hot in the first half of the year. At Zoomlion's tower crane smart factory, each production line has been in full capacity since the first half of the year, with an average of one tower crane taken off the line every 18 minutes. Since 2019, Zoomlion has consistently ranked first in the world in tower crane sales. Especially in the first half of this year, it only took half a year for Zoomlion to complete the total sales for the entire year of 2019.

Tang Shaofang, Vice President of Zoomlion: In the first half of this year, Zoomlion’s tower cranes once again grew rapidly, with sales exceeding 10 billion in half a year. We spent 9 months last year and 12 months the year before. Our growth rate is at Speed up further. What is the concept of 10 billion mentioned? It is equivalent to the sum of the world's largest and second largest in the past.

"Wisdom" to make the first: construction machinery companies increase investment in smart factories

In order to meet the rapidly increasing demand for orders, since the beginning of this year, construction machinery companies have increased their investment in smart factories, using intelligent means to improve quality and efficiency and reduce costs.

In the pump truck production workshop of a construction machinery company, the reporter met Xu Yuan, who was busy. Joining, the production cycle is shortened a lot.

Xu Yuan, the person in charge of the blanking and sorting area in the intelligent manufacturing workshop of Sany Heavy Industry: From the previous manual handling, it is adjusted to the current cutting robot, intelligent driving and handling robot to coordinate production. The production cycle has changed from 18 days at the beginning of the year to the present 7 days.

According to the person in charge of the factory, after the intelligent transformation of the factory in the first half of the year, the production cycle was reduced by half, the production capacity was doubled, the staff was reduced by two-thirds, from the original 1,500 to the current 500, and the labor cost was effectively controlled. .

Increasing the construction of smart factories has become a mainstream trend in the construction machinery industry.

Construction machinery industry: facing the test of growth rate in the business cycle

The hot sales situation is gratifying, but can this trend continue? Since April, the sales growth of major construction machinery products has slowed down, and the share prices of leading listed companies have also undergone a wave of adjustments. Investors have also expressed some concerns about this.

Investor Han Xu: Since the second half of last year, A-share construction machinery stocks have risen sharply. But since February this year, the market has fallen for a long time, and we have not been able to understand it.

How do the executives of listed companies view investors’ questions?

Xiang Wenbo, President of Sany Heavy Industry: Our industry still has some periodicity. This cycle started in 2016, and it has been 5 years this year. In the past few years, the sales of excavators in my country have reached a record high last year. , More than 330,000 units, this year there is an increase. What concept is this? That is, the sales of excavators in China are close to the sum of sales in all other countries outside of China. In the second half of the year, I think the growth rate will definitely decline. At least in the past few months, I think it will decline. The whole year should be flat or slightly increased. The adjustment of this growth rate is reasonable from the perspective of the development law of the construction machinery industry.

Industry insiders said that the current valuations of domestic construction machinery companies are generally underestimated. In the case of rapid growth in construction machinery exports, it is recommended to pay attention to leading companies with a higher market share.