Exports of U.S.-made construction machinery showed gains for first quarter 2003 after closing out last year with double-digit declines.
Manufacturers shipped $1.65 billion worth of equipment to global markets January-March 2003, a gain of 3.9% over the previous quarter and an increase of 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
"While first-quarter export totals are encouraging overall, we still have a long way to go to regain the momentum of a few years ago, and we are waiting to see what the rest of the year will bring," noted Arnold Huerta, AEM's International Marketing Manager--Latin America.
The top 10 export destinations in first quarter 2003 for U.S. construction equipment were Canada ($587 million); Australia ($124 million); Mexico ($108 million); Belgium ($88 million); Germany ($52 million); Chile ($49 million); China ($34 million); France ($34 million); South Africa ($33 million); and Brazil ($33 million).
South and Central America markets continued to lag, although South America rebounded somewhat. Construction machinery exports to Central America for first quarter 2003 were $153 million, a decline of 15.4% from the previous quarter and a 12.7% drop compared to its purchases a year ago. While exports of construction equipment to South America increased 7.7% over the previous quarter to total $141 million, this figure was 26.5% less than exports to the region for first quarter 2002.
Exports to Asia for first quarter 2003 declined following overall growth for 2002. Asia took delivery of $247 million worth of construction equipment, a 9.9% drop over the previous quarter and a decline of 9.3% compared with the same quarter last year. Exports to Canada remained strong with first-quarter purchases of $587 million, a 12.2% gain over the previous quarter and a 42.3% gain over the same time period last year. First-quarter 2003 exports to Europe of $331 million were 13.2% more than exports the previous quarter but 4.7% lower than first-quarter 2002 shipments.
Australia/Oceania took delivery of $127 million worth of construction equipment, 22.7% more than its purchases for the previous quarter and a 6.2% gain compared to the same quarter last year. Exports to Africa totaled $60 million for first quarter 2003, a 23.5% drop from the previous quarter but a 24.6% gain compared to last year at this time.
