Chinese construction equipment sales fell 19 percent in 2012 to $32.3 billion, according to Bloomberg data. Like Komatsu, who a few days ago spoke about this slip in Chinese demand, Hitachi says it has reason to be optimistic.
Hitachi Construction President Yuichi Tsujimoto told Bloomberg the factory shutdown cut production to 25 percent of capacity. Thanks to a renewed demand for compact excavators used in residential construction, the plant operates five days a week now and Tsujimoto expects demand to grow at a moderate pace.
“China will remain an important market because there are no other places with such large demand,” Tsujimoto said.
