2010: Power Equipment, Machine Tool and Other Industries Accelerate High-End Development

Based on national economic performance and industrial development trends, Vogel predicts that the whole industry will remain broadly flat or achieve slight year-on-year growth for the full year.

It is reported that China’s civil aviation manufacturing sector will maintain steady growth in 2010. The development of large aircraft creates an urgent demand for high-speed cutting machine tools for aluminum alloys and machine tools for difficult-to-machine materials. The machine tool industry will register modest growth.

The power equipment industry maintains an annual growth rate of approximately 20%

Driven by rising power grid investment, the power equipment industry will continue to enjoy relatively rapid growth over the next five years. It is projected to maintain an annual growth rate of around 20% in 2010.

Policy adjustments for the power equipment industry have altered the growth pace of its sub-sectors. For example, growth in power generation equipment manufacturing has slowed, while demand for power transmission and distribution equipment manufacturing remains robust, prompting related enterprises to adjust their capital expenditure on manufacturing equipment accordingly. At present, power station equipment manufacturers are stepping up technological upgrading and adding large heavy-duty special milling machines, such as heavy-duty CNC gantry milling machines, large CNC floor-type boring and milling machines with a boring bar diameter exceeding 250 mm, CNC heavy-duty vertical lathes with a machining diameter of 16 m, CNC heavy-duty horizontal lathes with a machining diameter of 4–5 m and a machining length of 14–18 m, as well as special CNC milling machines for blade root grooves.

China’s civil aviation manufacturing will maintain stable development in 2010. The development of large aircraft urgently requires the development of high-speed cutting machine tools for aluminum alloys and cutting machine tools for difficult-to-machine materials.

Trends in materials for aerospace structural components show that machining technologies for large aircraft structural parts mainly cover two categories: high-speed machining technologies for aluminum alloy components, and cutting technologies for difficult-to-machine materials such as titanium and nickel-based alloys.

The petroleum and petrochemical equipment industry will achieve steady growth in 2010, while exports of petroleum drilling and production equipment will contract sharply.

China’s domestic production capacity for oil drilling and production equipment far exceeds actual domestic market demand. In recent years, export delivery value has accounted for as much as 20%~30% of total industry sales. As European and American economies suffered severe shocks and market demand slumped, China’s export market for petroleum equipment is bound to shrink substantially.

2010 Outlook for Construction Machinery

An analysis of China’s construction machinery export performance shows that price advantages remain intact, sustaining long-term competitiveness. With the depreciation of the US dollar, currencies of major export destinations have rebounded, improving the export environment for construction machinery. Major export markets are resource-rich nations; recovering resource prices will boost their willingness to invest and purchasing power. For the above three reasons, China’s construction machinery exports are expected to rebound from late 2009 through 2010. Supported by recovering exports and domestic investment, the construction machinery industry is forecast to resume upward momentum in 2010.