1. Home
2. North American crane sales rebounding

While sales of many types of construction equipment boomed in 2021and 2022 in response to low interest rates and other economic stimulus, the North American mobile crane market (the US specifically) remained stubbornly low. It is only this year which is seeing crane sales return to a normal level.

The problem throughout 2021 and 2022 was a shortage of components for crane manufacturers, which significantly hindered production. These bottlenecks were compounded by shipping and logistics constraints, which stretched-out lead times even further. This was most apparent in the US market, which is roughly ten times the size of the Canadian market, meaning the sheer volume of cranes required to meet demand was a barrier to growth.

As frustrating as this has been, it means there is significant up-side in the industry this year and into the mid-2020s. “The USA has more potential for growth than Canada, though Canada has made the better recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic of three years ago. At the start of 2023, there was still some pent-up demand due to long lead times and delivery delays, and lots of potential from infrastructure, oil and gas and wind power investments, in the case of wind particularly if government incentives are available. This is a positive for producers of lattice boom crawler cranes, which are used for installing and repowering wind turbines, and for manufacturers of all terrain cranes, which perform general maintenance functions in the industry,” said the report.

Off-Highway Research’s Equipment Analysis on the mobile crane industry in North America is now available to subscribers to the North American Service. It is also available to buy as a stand-alone report here.

For more information about Off-Highway Research’s North American Service, please contact [email protected]