As China's engineering machinery industry enters a new cycle of growth, the excavator market shows a positive development trend. According to CME's latest survey, excavator sales in June 2024 are expected to reach 16,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. The domestic market performed particularly well, with an estimated 7,300 units, a year-on-year increase of 20%. This growth is mainly due to increased equipment renewal demand and the low base effect of 2023.

　　 Domestic Demand Recovers: Mini Excavators Lead the Market

　　Mini excavators are becoming the main force driving the recovery of domestic demand. With the active promotion of the "Equipment Renewal Plan," it is expected that by 2027, the scale of equipment investment in industries such as industry, construction, and transportation will increase by more than 25% compared to 2023. This policy orientation has injected strong momentum into the excavator market. It is estimated that the excavator renewal demand in 2024 will be approximately 72,000 units, with mini excavators playing a dominant role. In addition, the issuance of one trillion yuan in national debt at the end of 2023 has effectively alleviated the financial pressure on local governments and provided strong support for infrastructure investment. From January to May 2024, China's infrastructure investment increased by 7.5% year-on-year, with 9,683 new water conservancy projects started, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, further stimulating the demand for excavators. Considering seasonal factors, domestic demand is expected to achieve significant positive growth from September and October.

　　Overseas Market: Challenges and Opportunities Coexist

　　Although exports in June 2024 are expected to decrease by 10% year-on-year to 8,700 units, there is still huge potential in the overseas market. Affected by overseas product structure adjustments and the high base of 2023, both domestic and foreign sales face some short-term pressure. However, with domestic engineering machinery companies accelerating their overseas expansion, especially in high-end markets such as North America and Europe, excavator exports are expected to turn positive in the second half of the year. According to data from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association, from January to May 2024, China's engineering machinery import and export trade volume was US$22.292 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.06%, of which exports were US$21.193 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.13%. This shows that the competitiveness of China's engineering machinery products in the international market is continuously improving.

　　It is worth noting that although the engineering machinery markets in North America, Europe, and other regions have high entry barriers, their profit levels are also relatively high. Domestic whole-machine enterprises are actively breaking into these high-end markets, which will bring new growth points to the industry. At the same time, the mining machinery market has also become a key area of focus for domestic enterprises, and its high technical requirements and high profit margins have attracted the attention of many enterprises.

　　In general, the excavator market is at a critical juncture of both opportunities and challenges. The strong recovery of domestic demand provides a stable growth foundation for the industry, while the expansion of the overseas market opens up new space for future development. With the continuous improvement of the technical strength of domestic enterprises and the in-depth promotion of internationalization strategies, the Chinese excavator industry is expected to occupy a more important position in the global market.