Looking back at the year that was, equipment manufacturers had to contend with a number of challenges. Among them were rising interest rates, a changing supply chain, increased customer demand and uncertain funding from the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act.
It would have been one thing if those issues remained stagnant throughout the year, but 2023 was filled with its share of ups and downs.
As is often the case in the construction materials industry, producers and manufacturers remained resilient and adaptive. That doesn’t mean they’ve thrown caution to the wind, though.
On a recent episode of Drilling Deeper – a new podcast from our sister publication Pit & Quarry – I visited with Portable Plants editorial advisor Kevin Yanik, about how “cautious optimism” has been the buzzword within the industry for the last few years.
No one can deny the success industry stakeholders throughout the supply chain are having. But, at the same time, those successes are kept in perspective against the backdrop of ongoing headwinds. The same sentiment seems to remain heading into 2024.
Industry input
As we do every year, this December issue of Portable Plants features our annual State of the Industry Report.
The report provides you an opportunity to hear from industry members about how their year was and what they expect from the year ahead. This year’s report features insights from construction materials producers and contractors, equipment manufacturers, as well as industry economists.
The overwhelming theme going into 2024 is – once again – cautious optimism. Industry members are certainly aware of the challenges that 2023 brought, as well as the fact that many – if not all of them – will likely continue into at least the early part of the new year.
Even in the face of those challenges, the expectation is that this year’s successes will beget another strong year in 2024.
“Dealers have planned stock orders out for most of the year with lead times stretching out,” says Johnnie Garrison, vice president of sales at Superior Industries. “End users have already placed orders for projects in 2024, with some already booked into 2025. If there are no unforeseen issues or geopolitical events, we expect 2024 will be better than 2023.”
Hear more from Garrison and other manufacturers in our State of the Industry Report. Also, be sure to listen and subscribe to Drilling Deeper, which releases biweekly wherever you get your podcasts.
Related: The latest on nonresidential spending, construction job openings
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