Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/490948
I DA U N I V E R S A L M a rc h -A p r i l 2 0 1 5 17 TRENDS AND TIDBITS Trends continued on page 19 German manufacturers of construction equipment turned over €8.4 billion in 2014, 8 percent higher than the previous year and about the same as the turnover achieved in 2006. "Turnover is one thing, profi t is another," said Joachim Strobel, Deputy Chairman of the Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and Managing Director of Liebherr EMtec GmbH, putting the fi gures in perspective. High investment has been put into the development of solutions to meet new European exhaust emissions regulations. In 2015, the German construction machinery industry is only expecting a sideways trend in total, as the businesses in very good and less prosperous markets tend to equal out. Hardly any predictability Strobel does not see any immediate threat to the existence of these manufacturers, though he did admit that long-term planning is becoming increas- ingly more diffi cult: "In former years, we were used to seeing seven-year-cycles – this is a thing of the past." In 2014, there was a strong spring, a long summer slump and fi nally a signifi cant improvement of the situation toward the end of the year. At the bottom line, incoming orders were 7 percent higher than in the previous year, seen mostly in earth-moving and road construc- tion equipment, while mining equipment suff ers from the downturn in the global mining industry. e building construc- tion machinery area is recov- ering rather slowly and is still 50 percent lower in turnover today than in boom years. German market stable – dark clouds in France In 2014, the German market exceeded all expectations with its growth of 9 percent and showed stability once again. Companies are expecting the market to also develop in a positive way in 2015, even though there is not too much room for improvement on the domestic market, Strobel said. Overall, sales in construction equipment in 2014 increased by 15 percent across Europe, though some markets performed better than others. Portugal and Spain are slowly emerging again, while France is seeing little new invest- ment. e highest demand across Europe was for road-building machinery. Traditional markets a glimmer of hope Business with the USA is improving, with sales in this region increasing by 19 percent in 2014. e year ahead also looks positive. e same is true for the MENA-countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. In contrast, the BRIC nations under-performed. In China, the industry had to cope with a double-digit decline, while the seeming improvement in India's construction industry has not yet had an eff ect on sales. South America, as well as the African continent, is still behind expectations; only Egypt provides boost with the expansion of the Suez Canal. Industry investing again immensely in environment technology In the year ahead, many manufacturers of construc- tion equipment will again have to invest immensely to imple- ment the European exhaust emission levels as required by 97/88/EC. Currently, the regula- tions are being reviewed; voting in the European Council and Parliament have yet to take place. According to Strobel, the so-called level V therein prescribes new limits that are doable; the main focus of the discussion is on the deadlines to implement these new regulations. He said that a deadline of January 1, 2020 for mobile machinery comprising the categories from 56 to 130 kW, as well as January 1, 2019 for all other machines in all categories, is rather ambitious. "With development periods being fi ve years and in light of the technical developments required, these deadlines are far too tight," said Strobel. e industry is, therefore, fi ghting in Brussels to achieve prolonged imple- mentation deadlines and more predictability and possibility to plan. Since the regulations were fi rst introduced in 1999, mobile machinery's emissions have already been decreased by more than 95 percent for NOx and PM. is was possible thanks to enormous technological improve- ments, as well as investments. Now, another large amount will be required to keep up with the necessary developments, without signifi cant refi nancing in sight. ● www.worldcement.com, Feb 18, 2015 German Construction Equipment Industry Increased Turnover by 8% in 2014