The construction industry in the UK grew by 6% according to figures for the first three quarters of 2017 released by the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).
As well as sales of construction and earthmoving equipment improving over the nine months up to September 2017, sales in the July to September quarter grew by 3%, but this represented a slowing down of growth compared with Q1 growth of 9%.
CEA said, “Equipment sales in the UK market have shown a distinctive seasonal pattern in the last few years, peaking in Q2, and then bottoming in Q4.
“This has not happened this year. Growth in equipment sales in 2017 has been driven by crawler excavator sales which are more than 13% higher than 2016 in the first nine months of the year. This includes mini excavator sales, which are the most popular product in the UK, and reflect a strong house building market this year.”
Overall, confidence within the equipment supply chain has remained positive, particularly within the rental sector. For example, in the Q3 European Rental Association survey, a 60% majority in the UK expect market conditions to be “better” in the next 12 months (compared with the “same” or “worse”).
This is significant for the UK equipment market, where the rental sector is estimated to account for over 60% of market supply. Overall, equipment sales within the UK market have been relatively strong since 2014, with levels of sales in the last three years at their highest since the market crash in 2008.
In 2017, the construction equipment statistics exchange has been taken over by Systematics International, a specialist data processing company. The scheme is run in partnership with the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), the UK trade association.
November 10, 2017
