Construction cranes: domestic brands are playing a major role in competition

At each exhibition, the construction lifting machinery products have become the beautiful scenery of the exhibition with its tall figure, but this year the scene looks like a lot of “bone feeling”. Although the scale of the exhibition is new and the number of visitors has also increased significantly compared to the previous year, the exhibited products of the construction cranes are not as hot as the scale of the exhibition. Compared with BICES2009 and baumaChina2010, the overall impression is that there are relatively few construction crane products brought by this exhibitor, especially foreign brands. However, though there are few products, there are many bright spots. From January to August this year, with regard to the sales volume of China's construction crane market, the truck cranes saw the largest increase, which was a year-on-year increase of 57%; followed by crawler cranes, which represented an increase of approximately 10% year-on-year, and a year-on-year increase of approximately 7%. In these different market segments with different growth rates, there are also some new trends in the industry competition. According to the current situation of this exhibition, combined with the market situation of construction cranes this year, we will introduce the breakdown products one by one:

Crane:

The new arrivals of the veteran strengths made the appearance of the new entrants as the main competitive products in the construction crane market. XCMG, Zoomlion, Sanyi, Liugong, Fuzhong Jinzhong, Terex, Jingcheng Heavy Industry, Dotao from the north, and Suga Heavy Industry, Shanhe Intelligence, Northern Transportation, Shantui, and Xuzhou Jiufa have all brought their own crane products to 25t and 50t. Among them, SINOMACH, Xuzhou JFA, Shanhe Intelligence, etc. are all exhibiting for the first time with truck crane products.

Leading companies show new results The QY160K truck crane brought by Xugong Heavy is currently the largest tonnage truck crane in China. The U-shaped cross-section main boom and single-plate armless boom structure design of the RT60 cross-country tire crane greatly reduce the weight of the boom, lift performance, strong climbing ability and turning characteristics in a smaller range. The RT60 can do its job even in the harsh geographical environment of the North. Zoomlion brings in China the only four-axle 80-ton crane QY80V532 is currently the only four-axle 80-ton truck crane in China. It has the longest U-shaped boom and the highest lifting capacity compared to the same tonnage-class product. High degree of increase and Other obvious advantages.

In addition, other old-time giants such as Terex and Fuzhong Jinnong also exhibited their new products through the exhibition. For example, Terex has introduced two new crane models, the Terex-CJ Toplift 025G and the Terex-CJ Toplift 055G in the new series. The two models inherit the advantages of the Yangtze River Crane and add new technologies to the Terex Cranes series. The model introduced a new operating room and cab, a new combination of engine and transmission, and the newly designed boom. Both new models have reached China's latest national IV emission standards. It is worth mentioning that the Terex Corporation announced its strategic goal in the Chinese market: We hope that the Chinese market will account for 20% of the company's total business. Terex plans to increase its business in the Chinese market to three years. One billion US dollars. With 40 years experience in the research and development of truck cranes, Fuzhong Jinzhong has launched five new QY20NS, QY25N5S-I, QY35N5Y, QY55N5S, and QY70N5Y products. It has successfully raised the lifting capacity of a heavy-duty truck crane to 70 tons. . In addition to the new QY20F5 arm, the new product is also unique to the industry.

The new face of the automotive crane industry is a great opportunity for the new company to show itself to its customers and industry professionals. Shantui, a smart company that has joined the auto crane industry, and Shanhe Intelligent also showed off their crane products. Shantui exhibited for the first time after holding Fushun Crane Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and brought its own truck crane and crawler crane products. It is understood that the cooperation between Shantui and Fushun Crane Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is expected to reach the target of 10 billion in 2015. In addition to the production of construction cranes, there are platforms for climbing fire engines and aerial platforms. Shanhe Intelligence brought three cranes, namely 50t telescopic crawler cranes, 50t truck cranes, and 55t off-road tire cranes, which were independently developed by them. The latter two products were the first appearances after the official off-line on September 28, marking the official launch of Shanhe Intelligence into the construction crane market. During the exhibition, Shanhe Intelligence also specially held a promotion conference for lifting machinery products, focusing on SWQY50 truck cranes, SWRT550 off-road tire cranes, and SWTC series telescopic boom crawler cranes. In addition, for the first time, SINOMACH exhibited QY8, QY25, and QY55 truck cranes under the “SINOMACH” brand.

Although the degree of concentration is higher, the competitive situation is still grim. China's auto cranes have been digesting and absorbing foreign advanced technologies, market economy, and constantly optimizing product structure, which is already a very mature product. According to industry insiders, domestic truck crane products, especially the homogeneity of medium and small tonnage products, are more serious. The difference between small manufacturers and large enterprises is mainly in aspects such as appearance and production processes. A truck crane manufacturer's technicians admitted that if there is any new technology or new product from a company that produces less than 100 tons of products, they can quickly make it. Terex was the only foreign brand participating in the exhibition with physical exhibits. Manitowoc only placed some models and product information in the interior. Liebherr did not exhibit. Comparing domestic and foreign products, a crane industry expert stated that there are indeed some gaps in domestic products compared with foreign brands, especially in the level of refinement. For example, in terms of appearance design, foreign brands have certain advantages in the level of manufacturing assembly technology, paint quality, etc., and the overall sense of the product is more refined. Although there is still a certain gap, the domestic auto crane brand keeps making progress, and has made a lot of significant progress and breakthroughs. The domestic brand is already the absolute main force, which can be seen from the sales.

In 2010, the annual sales of truck cranes have reached 35,000 units, and the top three players XCMG, Zhonglian and Liugong accounted for more than 70% of the market share. From January to August this year, the sales volume of truck cranes reached 27,000 units. Compared with other crane products, the growth rate was the smallest on the basis of the same period last year, only 7%. Among them, XCMG still firmly occupy the position of the leading leader with a market share of over 50%, and the market share of Zoomlion’s second-ranking Peking University has slightly increased. Sany Heavy Industry has surpassed Liugong in the top three with a growth rate of 101.8%. The sales of other manufacturers such as Terex, Anhui Liugong and Manitowoc dropped 53%, 21% and 4% year-on-year. It can be seen that the degree of industry concentration is getting higher and higher, with the top three companies occupying more than 85% of the market share. As truck cranes belong to road vehicles, the entry threshold for the industry is very high and there is a growing trend. New entrants in recent years will also be large companies such as Sany Heavy Industries, Beiqi Foton Motors and Guoji Heavy Industry. This reporter learned that a private company in Hebei has been trying hard to enter the crane industry since 2009 and has not been approved.

It can be imagined that the competition of the car crane market in the next few years is still among the more than a dozen companies. Although it cannot be said that the outcome has been divided, the industry concentration is indeed increasing, and XCMG and Zoomlion have been firmly established for several years. Occupy the top two, according to analysis by relevant experts, the future competition may be more in the second tier competition. However, although the degree of concentration continues to increase, the competitive situation is still severe. Among the top four sales companies, XCMG, Zoomlion and Sany have all attached great importance to the market of truck cranes. Liugong also regards cranes as one of the three strategic products. . In addition, it does not rule out the "black horse," because many companies in the industry have proposed the "one hundred billion" and "one billion" targets in the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" if they only rely on their current product lines to achieve relevant goals. It is indeed more difficult, so the current industry mergers and acquisitions trend can be described as surging tide. As a product with an output value of more than 38.8 billion, construction cranes are likely to be the focus of M&A. Take the example of a Chinese company in the top 50 of the world's construction machinery industry. In addition to XCMG, Zoomlion, SANY, and Liugong, Shantui, Shanhe Intelligence, and SINOMA have just entered the crane market and their foundation is not stable and may merge. Some professional truck crane manufacturers have expanded their capabilities; Longgong, Xiagong and Yuchai have not stepped into the crane industry yet, and they do not rule out that they will find a suitable opportunity to enter; the Foton Lovol crane blocks have all been transferred to Foton’s Renesas cranes. (Car cranes, crawler cranes), integrating resources to build bigger and stronger construction cranes; there are also some strength companies outside the industry are also looking for opportunities to cut into the construction machinery industry, it does not rule out such companies through the merger into the car crane industry.

Speaking of M&A opportunities, this issue of the BICES show, at the press conference held by Terex, the reporter asked a question, “Is Terex happy with the long-term cooperation?” Terex The leaders directly answered that they were “very dissatisfied”. It was reported that there had been rumors that Terex and Changqi might split their families. Both of them were interested in selling their shares. Whether or not the rumor was true, this may be a case for some companies. Very good opportunity to enter the industry.

In addition, the all-road crane products exhibited at this exhibition are much less compared with BICES2009. Only Terex, Sany, Todano from the north, Jingcheng Heavy Industry, and XCMG brought one or two products. Each of XCMG and Shanhe Intelligence brought a product. Beijing Capital Heavy Industries launched the QAY160E, the first domestic 5-axis chassis 160-ton all-terrain crane. The weight of the QAY160E is 60 tons, which is 72 tons more than the domestic counterparts with a weight of 72 tons. The weight is reduced by 16%. It is the only one after the Jingcheng Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. launched the only domestic 3-axle 55-ton all-terrain crane (36 tons of driving weight) in 2009. The successful example product using lightweight design technology greatly improves the adaptability of the product's road and bridge, and saves the fuel consumption cost of the user's transition.

The crawler crane product at this exhibition can be described in one word: less! Zoomlion, Terex, Shantui, and CSR Beijing Times each brought their own 550t, 70t, 150t, and 150t products. In addition, Rongsheng Machinery brought a prototype. Among the exhibited products, the Terex Powerlift 2000 truss boom crawler crane brought by Terex, the maximum lifting capacity of the main boom is 70t×3.8m, the longest combination is 54m, and the maximum lifting capacity of the fixed jib is 6t×12.4m. Long combination 42m+18m. It is the only crawler crane in the same level that adopts the structure of the flipper. Compared with the A-frame, the structure of the vehicle is more compact and the transfer and assembly are more convenient.

From the perspective of the exhibited products, the exhibition enthusiasm of crawler crane manufacturers is not very high. Through exchanges with manufacturers, it is found that this may be related to the decline in market sales and the higher cost of crawler cranes. The performance of crawler cranes this year was a record-breaking 250-unit sales record in March, with sales falling gradually, but monthly sales have remained at a relatively high level. Although the cooling of the wind power industry and Japan’s nuclear leakage have had a certain impact on the development of nuclear power, there is a large potential demand for large-tonnage lifting equipment in China’s current infrastructure (such as petrochemicals, energy construction, metallurgy, and basic engineering). So sales have been running high. In addition to the good momentum in sales, the domestic crawler cranes have made major breakthroughs this year. XCMG, Zoomlion, and Sany have independently developed and manufactured 2000t, 3200t, and 3600t large tonnage crawler cranes, marking China's crawler cranes. The level of technology has risen to an unprecedented level.

Due to the special nature of the crawler crane market, the crawler crane market is currently highly concentrated. Five companies, including Zhonglian, Xuzhong, Fushun, Sanyi and Yutong, accounted for about 98% of the industry's market share. Many companies that entered the industry in previous years have opted out, such as Lulu, Jiangsu. However, there are also new entrants. According to a senior personage in a certain industry, a company in Taian, Shandong, has just entered the industry and its product is a 150t crawler crane. However, he thinks that if the company wants to make some progress in the crawler crane market, it will be very difficult. .

The crawler crane product is a product with a large investment, a long return period, a long design and production cycle, and the overall sales volume is relatively low. Therefore, the capital and technical reserves of the manufacturer are required to be high. Although many small manufacturers use some experienced talents to develop related products, they often cannot fight a protracted war. From the exit of many small businesses in recent years, it can be seen. It is understood that the normal large-scale crawler crane R&D process takes one or two years, and the production process also takes one or two years. Many small businesses claim to be able to produce as many crawler cranes as they wish, and their realization may involve several relatively small products. Get it now. Due to the long production cycle and the rapidly changing market demand, it may happen that when the product is produced, the buyer no longer needs the product. Although there is a deposit compensation, but the deposit is still a big gap from the cost of a crawler crane, and this machine can be sold to other buyers is still a problem, so it is equivalent to the production of this product is losing money .

For the crawler crane market next year, many industry experts said that the main competition is still concentrated in the top five, and the industry concentration may be further improved, but the competition among the top five is not clear. Trinity's crawler crane sales this year fell to fourth from last year's second, and they are actively adjusting; although the pioneers of domestic crawler cranes are currently still ranked in the top three, their market share has fallen from 30% of the highest peak. To about 16%, next year, the use of crawler cranes as the main product will certainly work hard to regain lost ground. Therefore, next year's crawler crane market competition will certainly be more intense.

The top three of the truck-mounted crane sales were in addition to Mudanjiang Gas, XCMG, and Shimei. They all brought their own truck-mounted crane products. This may be related to the key sales areas of Mudanjiang Special Auto in the northeast, and the Changlin Group also took The related products came and foreign brands such as Hiab and Palfinger did not exhibit.

This year, truck-mounted cranes are the “outstanding” products for construction cranes. From January to August 2011, more than 6,600 units have been sold, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 57%, which has surpassed 6,300 total sales in 2010. Although the momentum of product sales has always been better than the general trend, the number of truck cranes exhibited this time is very small, and it has formed a huge contrast with its market performance. This may be related to the fact that truck-mounted cranes have a relatively small proportion in the construction crane market, and the reasons for the increasingly higher concentration of the industry are related (XCMG's market share has reached more than 50%, and there is a trend of further improvement). Although the lorry crane is relatively good compared to other crane products, from the perspective of this product alone, the sales situation in August and September is not optimistic. The manufacturers are expecting the relaxation of the national economic policy.

According to an industry veteran, the lorry crane market looks placid and strong, and the top three companies have not changed much in recent years, but due to the fact that the product's entry-level barrier is not too high, and in recent years The crane market is continuously hot, and many companies have already taken a look at this market. In addition to Changlin shares just entering the truck crane market, there are several manufacturers who also want to enter this market. They want to develop independently, and they also want to use foreign technology joint ventures, among which there are many leading companies in the industry. Since 98% of the truck cranes are sold to self-employed individuals, the strength of funds and the adequacy of sales staff are the main factors of competition in addition to products. Therefore, there are certain variables in the future truck crane market. When will Xugong's market share rise to an inflection point? How long is the stone coal machine and Mudanjiang special gas in the top three? Did the excellent performance of Hunan Feitao and Changchun Shenjun this year be a flash in the pan? These issues need to be further observed.

Looking forward to the "win-win" of domestic construction cranes

During the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, China’s construction crane production industry has made considerable progress. Although there are still some gaps in some aspects of foreign-funded brands, the overall level of technology is already at the forefront of the world and it is completely self-sufficient. The market share of the product can be seen. Compared with BICES2009 two years ago, there were not many construction crane products exhibited at the exhibition, but there were also many highlights. Many industry experts said that they can clearly feel the rapid development of domestic construction crane technology. For example, only two years ago it was like Leading companies such as Xu Zhong have applied the U-arm structure to their products with a capacity of over 50 tons. They can now basically do it, and there are also manufacturers specializing in producing U-arms; the largest all-terrain crane was Xu Tong’s 500 tons two years ago. Currently, Sany and Xugong have 1,200 tons of products; XG, Zhonglian, and Sany have their own oversized tonnage products for crawler cranes, which has improved the long-term control of oversized tonnage crawler cranes; in addition, hydraulic and electrical Closer integration, manufacturing systems, and manufacturing processes have made great strides. In short, domestically-built construction cranes have become increasingly mature and it is expected that domestic brand cranes can achieve a win-win market and technology in the future!