U.S. construction equipment exports dropped more than 12.75% in 2002, following a decline of 5.9% the previous year, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). The AEM international trade group compiles data from the U.S. Commerce Department with other sources into a quarterly export trends report.
Shipments of U.S.-made construction machinery to worldwide markets totaled $6.37 billion in 2002. Declines were steepest for the South American region, while Asia was the only market to show an increase for the year.
"The construction equipment manufacturing industry has been mired in economic uncertainty, mirroring the state of general business activity, and this is reflected in our lower export totals for the year," said AEM International Marketing Manager for Latin America Arnold Huerta.
Exports of construction machinery to Asia totaled $1.06 billion in 2002, an increase of almost 14%. South America took delivery of $615 million worth of U.S. construction equipment in 2002, a 35.8% decline compared to the previous year, while construction machinery exports to Central America for 2002 dropped 10% to total $686 million.
Europe took delivery of $1.27 billion worth of U.S. construction equipment in 2002, a drop of almost 25% compared to the previous year, and export business to Canada dropped 3.75% to $2.02 billion. In 2002, shipments to Australia/Oceania declined 9.75% to $470 million, while exports to Africa totaled $247 million, a decline of 28%.
The top 10 export destinations for American-made construction equipment were: (1) Canada; (2) Mexico ($473 million); (3) Australia ($429 million); (4) Belgium ($421.5 million); (5) Chile ($227.5 million); (6) United Kingdom ($154 million); (7) Japan ($152 million); (8) Indonesia ($151 million); (9) Singapore ($139 million); (10) Germany ($132 million).
