2026 Early-Year Construction Machinery Industry Report: Strong Recovery and Booming Global Trade

2026-02-27

In the early months of 2026, the global construction machinery industry has witnessed a robust recovery driven by rising domestic and international demand. As the world’s largest manufacturer and exporter of construction equipment, China has maintained a steady growth momentum in sales volume, technological innovation, and export performance, providing strong support for the global construction and infrastructure development.

According to the latest statistics released by the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA), the sales performance of major construction machinery products in January 2026 achieved remarkable year-on-year growth, reflecting the industry’s strong recovery momentum:

• Excavators: A total of 18,708 units were sold in January 2026, a year-on-year increase of 49.5%. Among them, domestic sales reached 8,723 units (including 24 electric excavators), up 61.4% year-on-year; exports stood at 9,985 units (including 11 electric excavators), a year-on-year growth of 40.5%[4].

• Loaders: Sales reached 11,759 units in January, an increase of 48.5% year-on-year. Domestic sales were 5,293 units (including 2,701 electric loaders), up 42.8% year-on-year; exports were 6,466 units (including 289 electric loaders), surging 53.4% year-on-year[4].

• Other key products: Sales of 12 major construction machinery products all achieved varying degrees of growth. For example, crawler cranes sold 301 units (up 73% year-on-year), pavers sold 124 units (up 44.2% year-on-year), and forklifts (excluding electric walking warehouse vehicles) sold 50,878 units (up 28.7% year-on-year).
  
  

Leading Chinese construction machinery enterprises have accelerated their pace of delivery and overseas expansion, with a number of large-scale orders being concentratedly delivered. On February 25, 2026, Zoomlion held a global shipment ceremony, with equipment totaling 8.5 billion RMB (about 1.18 billion USD) being sent to domestic and international markets, of which overseas orders accounted for more than 80%. The ceremony featured the batch delivery of the world’s largest 4,000-ton all-terrain crane, which can meet the hoisting needs of 190-meter ultra-high wind turbines and set multiple global records in hoisting height and efficiency.

In terms of industrial development trends, electrification, intelligence, and green development have become the core driving forces of the industry’s transformation and upgrading. In 2025, the electrification of the industry officially entered the "large-scale production period", with the sales of electric loaders increasing by more than 100% year-on-year; it is expected that the export share of electric products will rise to 20% in 2026, and the penetration rate of new energy equipment will further increase in scenarios such as ports and mines. Meanwhile, the localization rate of core components has reached 78%, with key technologies such as high-end hydraulic systems and CVT gearboxes achieving domestic substitution, effectively ensuring the stability and competitiveness of production and supply chains.

The intelligence of construction machinery has also shifted from "concept hype" to "scene implementation". Unmanned mining clusters, digital twin construction sites have been widely applied, and the efficiency of intelligent equipment has been significantly improved. For example, Sany’s unmanned paver cluster has achieved 480 hours of continuous construction, and XCMG’s unmanned mining trucks have increased work efficiency by 30%.

Industry insiders predict that the global construction machinery industry will maintain a prosperous trend in 2026. Driven by the recovery of global infrastructure construction, the demand for equipment renewal, and the acceleration of electrification substitution, the industry’s export volume is expected to exceed 60 billion USD this year. International trade and cross-border cooperation will become more active, bringing new development opportunities for manufacturers, distributors, and end-users around the world.

As an important link in the global construction machinery industrial chain, Chinese construction machinery enterprises will continue to strengthen technological innovation and global layout, providing high-quality, cost-effective products and services for global customers, and promoting the high-quality development of the global construction machinery industry.