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28 Apr 21 Unit sales of construction equipment in the UK have recovered to pre-Covid levels, industry statistics suggest.

New JCB Loadalls on their way to hire firm Ardent earlier this year
New JCB Loadalls on their way to hire firm Ardent earlier this year

UK construction equipment sales in the first quarter of 2021 were 30% above 2020 levels and 2.9% higher than 2019 (by number of units, not by value).

While the first national lockdown was not announced until 23rd March, the construction industry had already been feeling the effects on tightening investment and delayed decision making in the weeks leading up to that point. Brexit uncertainties were also having an additional similar impact.

In the month of March 2021 retail sales of construction and earthmoving were close to double the levels seen in March 2020. As a result, sales for the first quarter reached more than 8,000 units.

While concerns remain that equipment sales could be held back this year due to supply-side constraints for some components, there is growing confidence that sales should see a strong recovery for the full year.

In March 2021 chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a ‘super-deduction’ tax break for companies investing in new equipment over the next two years. This will cut companies’ tax bill by 25p for every pound they invest in new equipment, the chancellor said, meaning that they can reduce their taxable profits by 130% of the cost.

The pattern of sales for the major equipment types in the first quarter of the year is shown in the chart below.

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This shows that the growth in sales is still being driven by excavators. Mini/Midi excavators (up to 10 tonnes) and other crawler excavators saw the strongest growth compared with Q1 last year. Among the other equipment types, road rollers and telehandlers (to the construction industry) also showed strong recoveries in the first quarter.

The construction equipment statistics exchange covers sales on a regional basis in the UK and Northern Ireland. The map below shows the percentage differences for sales in the main regions in Q1 2021 compared with the same quarter last year.

Sales in the southeast were the strongest (+39%), while Wales saw the weakest sales in the first quarter, still 2% below last years’ levels.

Sales in the Republic of Ireland are also recorded in the statistics scheme, and saw a more modest increase in March 2021 compared with the UK. This resulted in Q1 sales this year ending up 12% above 2020 levels.

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MPU
MPU

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