Crane manufacturers climb global equipment ranking

More than half of the world’s leading crane manufacturers improved their standings in the global construction equipment industry last year, according to the annual Yellow Table survey of the sector conducted by sister-magazine International Construction.

The rankings, based on total revenues from construction equipment sales last year, saw Hitachi ranked as the largest crane-making manufacturer in the industry. It was placed third globally, behind earthmoving equipment giants Caterpillar and Komatsu. Other crane manufacturers in the construction equipment top 10 included Sany (5^th), Zoomlion (6^th), Liebherr (7^th) and Terex (8^th).

Tadano achieved the greatest improvement last year, climbing six places up the rankings to 23^rd. There were also gains for Hitachi, Zoomlion, Manitowoc, Kato Works and Furukawa, while Maeda was a new entrant to the Yellow Table. Only Liebherr, Liugong and Palfinger lost places compared to last year, while Sany, Terex, XCMG and Kobelco were unchanged.

Overall sales of construction equipment by the world's 50 largest manufacturers grew just +2.6% last year to US$ 186 billion. This was a record for the industry, but the low growth rate was indicative of weak conditions in 2012.

The report’s author, Chris Sleight, said, "Weak market conditions in China last year were clearly a decisive factor for the global industry last year. Despite the string of acquisitions we’ve seen from some of China’s key manufacturers, overall revenues still fell, although the largest groups – Sany, Zoomlion and XCMG managed to maintain their standings. Fortunately the strength among North American manufacturers was enough to offset this and deliver some growth.”

The full listing of equipment manufacturers with cranes in their portfolio in the Yellow table was:

• Hitachi (3^rd position, no change)
• Sany (5^th, no change)
• Zoomlion (6^th, +1)
• Liebherr (7^th, -1)
• Terex (8^th, no change)
• XCMG (11^th, no change)
• Kobelco (13^th, no change)
• Manitowoc (18^th, +2)
• Liugong (20^th, -3)
• Sumitomo (22^nd, +2)
• Tadano (23^rd, +6)
• Palfinger (31, -1)
• Kato (36^th, +2)
• Furukawa (38^th, +3)
• Maeda (48^th, new)

Click here to watch Chris Sleight's video about the 2013 Yellow Table.

The Yellow Table is published in the April edition of International Construction. It is also available to buy as a stand-alone report from the Information Store. Click here to buy the 2013 Yellow Table. Click here to buy the 2009 - 2013 five-year report.