US construction equipment exports down after third quarter
Exports of U.S.-made construction equipment fell 25 percent overall for the first three quarters of 2016 compared with the same time period in 2015, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
A total of $8.2 billion in U.S.-made construction equipment was exported during the first three quarters this year.
“For the past 15 quarters, U.S. exports of construction equipment declined year over year, and in the third quarter of 2016, that trend remains unchanged,” says Benjamin Duyck, director of market intelligence at AEM. “A key factor affecting the reduction in exports is most likely due to the strong dollar making U.S. manufacturers less competitive in the global marketplace.”
All world regions were in decline from single-digit drops for Europe and Central America to decreases in the 50 percent range for Africa and South America, AEM reports. AEM cited U.S. Department of Commerce data it uses in global market reports.
The following are U.S. construction equipment exports by major world regions:
- Canada declined 21 percent for a total of $3.5 billion
- Europe declined 6 percent for a total of $1.2 billion
- Central America declined 9 percent for a total of $1.0 billion
- Asia declined 30 percent for a total of $972 million
- South America declined 49 percent for a total of $733 million
- Australia / Oceania declined 36 percent for a total of $427 million
- Africa declined 51 percent for a total of $317 million
AEM’s expectations for U.S.-made construction equipment exports in the fourth quarter of 2016 remain the same because the U.S. dollar is up, Duyck adds.
“The U.S. dollar is experiencing its longest rally in 16 years,” he says. “With the global economic malaise, the slowdown in emerging markets and negative interest rates seen in several economies’ bond markets, investment is flowing to U.S. and U.S. stocks, driving up demand for our dollar, inadvertently affecting our competitiveness abroad.”