SALES of construction equipment in Scotland for the first half of 2021 were more than double the figures recorded over the same period 12 months earlier, when the industry was grappling with the impact from the first Covid-related lockdown.
Sales across the whole of the UK for the month of June were 75% ahead of the same month last year. Consequently, sales in Q2 were more than double the levels seen last year, and reached over 10,000 units during the quarter according to new research produced by the construction equipment statistics exchange, run by Systematics International Ltd. This scheme is run in partnership with the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).
Comparisons with sales in earlier years are said to indicate just how ‘buoyant’ the market has been in 2021, with sales ahead of both 2018 (by 4%) and 2019 (7%) levels for the first half of the year. This is despite challenges for the construction industry such as supply chain shortages and price rises for many products and materials.
The strongest growth in sales has been seen by telehandlers for construction, with sales more than double last year’s levels in the first six months. This is a significant recovery after the machines showed the weakest performance amongst the major equipment types in 2020, when sales were over 40% below 2019 levels.
Mini/midi excavators were one of the strongest performing products last year. Sales in the first six months of this year have shown 58% growth compared with last year, lagging behind all other major equipment types in percentage growth terms. However, the machines remain the most popular equipment type.
