Chinese Manufacturers Stamped Their Mark on Concrete Equipment

by Stian Overdahl on Aug 29, 2012 

If there is one industry that Chinese construction machinery manufacturers have stamped their mark on, it is concrete equipment. Starting with Zoomlion's acquisition of CIFA in 2008, and gathering momentum this year with the completion of Sany's acquisition of Putzmeister and XCMG's purchase of a majority shareholding in Schwing Group, Chinese companies now dominate the market.

Yet in terms of the impact in the Middle East, there is no hard rule as to how the parent company manages two separate brands.

Following the purchase of Putzmeister, Sany and Putzmeister have carved up the globe, with the strongest brand remaining in the market. For the majority of the global markets, this means that Putzmeister is the only brand being sold, while Sany concrete pumps are sold in China – where Putzmeister never managed to build a strong market share – and in a number of African nations.

Both the CIFA brand and Zoomlion are sold in the Middle East, often by different dealers, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, where both are sold by Omatra Group. But the brands aren't strictly seen as competitors, since they target different segments of the market. And in the case of XCMG's purchase of Schwing, the reason given was that the company wants to "make inroads into the international markets for brand concrete equipment”.

Putzmeister is an independent company in the Sany Group, says Putzmeister Middle East's regional director Jens Bawidamann.

"We are independent in all ways - management, production, research and development is done by us.

"We have a one-brand policy in the Middle East. That means Putzmeister will take care of the service of the existing Sany products. If there are existing Sany customers who want to purchase Sany equipment, they can purchase it through us, from Sany. Outside of China, Putzmeister is in charge of the concrete machinery business."

While CIFA and Zoomlion stay separate on the product front, operationally-speaking they share market information, says CIFA's Middle East area manager, Denis Giacoma.

"We have not organised a common strategy in the area. We do not share the same dealers. Zoomlion have a huge logistics hub in Dubai, we do not. We keep the stock of spare parts and machines with our dealers, so it is a different approach.

"Of course, CIFA and Zoomlion have different market segmentations, so it's very rare that one group or customer purchase Chinese equipment and then shift to CIFA, or the reverse."

While not everyone welcomed the sale to Sany, which initially saw protests by German employees, Bawidmann says that he has viewed it as a positive change, so long as Putzmeister remains independent within the Sany Group.

"Putzmeister as a company will grow, and there is a lot of movement in the company in a positive way. At the end of the day, only the owner has changed."

Nevertheless, the heavy equipment business of the world is changing drastically, he adds.

"There is a lot of movement in the market, and everybody is getting into position. Life has changed very fast. Five years ago, if you said that Schwing would be sold to Chinese company they would have said it was impossible, and the same with Putzmeister."