Construction Equipment Market Thrives on Urban Population Boom

[edit] Market growth and trend

The market growth in construction equipment between 2021 and 2030 is likely to be driven by rapid urbanisation around the world. The acceleration of urbanisation increases the demand for housing and propels further infrastructure investment. In recent years, the surging use of electric and fully autonomous equipment has become a key market trend. In addition, autonomous equipment increases the productivity of the construction sector, and offers greater site safety as well as addressing issues around skilled labour shortages.

The World Bank Group states that around 55% of the global population currently lives in cities. It is also estimated that the global urban population grew from 4.28 billion in 2019 to 4.358 billion in 2020. They also forecast that nearly 7 out of 10 people in the world will reside in urban areas, by 2050. The population growth in urban localities will result in the wide-scale construction of housing, as well as industrial, and commercial structures, increasing construction equipment demand.

[edit] Market share and focus

According to P&S Intelligence, within the product segment, the earth-moving machinery category is expected to account for the largest share in the construction equipment industry throughout this decade. The dominance of this category can be attributed to the improved grip offered by this construction equipment in poor conditions. The surging use of this machinery in the construction sector is also credited to its wide application bases, such as trench digging, demolition of structures, soil grading, laying foundations, and removing rocks and earth.

At present, the construction equipment industry is consolidated in nature, due to the presence of a few key players, such as Deere & Company, Volvo Construction Equipment, Caterpillar Inc., Doosan Infracore, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd., Liebherr AG, Joseph Cyril Bamford Excavators Ltd., Terex Corporation, and Liebherr AG.

Currently, these players are actively introducing new products to gain a competitive edge. For example, in April 2019, Volvo Construction Equipment announced its plan to introduce compact excavators (EC15 to EC27), and an electrically driven range of wheel loaders (L20 to L28). Likewise, in March 2020, Komatsu launched a new electric mini excavator, namely PC30E-5, in Japan to target the rental sector. This product delivers similar excavation performance compared to internal combustion models with similar power output while reducing vehicle noise and emitting no exhaust. Major players are focusing on launching autonomous equipment. For instance, D61i-24 and D51i-24 dozers of Komatsu Ltd. can record terrain data while manoeuvring through the site. This data helps make calculated decisions about materials used.

[edit] Concluding

Geographically, the APAC construction equipment market will generate the highest revenue in the foreseeable future. As construction projects are the backbone of economic development, a boom in the construction sector is a key contributor to the market growth in the region. Moreover, the growth of the sector in APAC is driven by mounting investments being made by governments in construction activities. Additionally, the rapid urbanisation in China, South Korea, India, and Japan will also drive the demand for construction equipment in these countries.