The Heavy Machinery Industry has certainly seen a changing of the guard in terms of markets in the past few years. Since the announcement of the coming world cups of football, Olympics, and the resurgence of the energy sector we have seen many new countries come on the market virtually out of nowhere.

Over the past couple of years the market has come a grinding halt in Europe due to the economic recession and many issues being currently addressed in the European Union.  However new markets have emerged virtually overnight in South America and in the Middle East.

In this article I’ll highlight a few specific regions and finish with a review of the global market.


South America

In South America, and in particular Brazil, has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for the heavy machinery industry in years.  To date they have spent in the range of $1 Trillion in order to build twelve new stadiums, new infrastructure, update public transport, and bring their cities into the 21st century.

This growth is all due their upcoming international competitions, The World Cup of Football and Olympics.  The government not only sees this as a major opportunity to showcase what Brazil has to offer athletically, but also it is a major chance to showcase the country of Brazil and market it as a major place for investment, tourism, and for being a growing and vibrant economy.

In other countries in the surrounding area there is heavy investment taking place. Many Spanish companies are starting to move into the region in search of contracts and investment opportunities as the construction market in Europe has ceased to exist and thousands of people out of work of work.


Middle East

Another major market erupting and that is in Qatar. Ten years ago, Dubai grew leaps and bounds now the same thing is happening to their neighbours to the West.  They are currently pushing forward to develop the country and be ready for the influx of visitors for the 2022 world cup of football.

Qatar currently has a population of roughly 1.69 million people and they are presently investing $220 billion in order to prepare for the arrival of approximately 400,000 visitors to attend the world cup of football.  They are in the process of building hotels, apartments, new stadiums, infrastructure, transportation and a new airport to accommodate this influx of people.  Most of the construction taking place is like what we see happening in Brazil with their upgrade in infrastructure.  In this case though everything is being designed and built from scratch.


Australian Market

Last year in the Australian industry there was considerable spending especially in the non -residential building sector.  In total last year there was $305 billion of construction occurring around the country.  This was made up of non-residential buildings (31 per cent) and houses (24 per cent), followed by pipelines (other than water) and other heavy duty construction (11 per cent).

This continues to be a very strong market for all Heavy Machinery manufacturers due to not only the booming construction industry, but also for the mining industry which economists predict is exporting $2 billion worth of natural resources.  Australia has been one of the most consistent economies over the last decade and continues to be for the foresee able future.


World Market

Overall we are starting to see a growth in the market in the worldwide market.  With a lot of investment from the Chinese in Africa and the memory of the market crash of 2009 starting to become a distant memory we find a lot more investment taking place in the construction industry and in particular the private sector with the construction of a lot of infrastructure and private building being constructed around the world for both public and commercial use.  The market specialists are expecting to see a 7% increase which also will reflect on the sales of heavy machinery.

Over the coming years we can expect to see the growth continue until we reach the levels that where present pre 2009.  However don’t be surprised to find that these numbers are made up of markets that where not on the radar before the crash in the market 4 years ago.

For more discussion on the evolving world markets please follow Van Doorn on Twitter @VanDoornTCC. 

You can also contact me directly for specific questions about how these trends impact your construction projects.

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