Published : Jan. 11, 2021 - 10:51
This photo, provided by Doosan Infracore Co., a construction equipment arm of South Korea's Doosan Group, shows the company's excavator. (Doosan Infracore)
South Korea's top construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Monday that its excavator sales in China rose 22 percent last year from a year earlier on the back of infrastructure investment expansion by the Chinese government.
Doosan Infracore sold 18,686 excavators in the country last year, compared with 15,270 units in 2019, which is its highest annual sales since 2011, when it sold about 16,700 units, the company said.
Doosan Infracore sold 21,800 excavators in 2010 in China, which is its largest annual sales since 2005, when the company made inroads into the Chinese market.
"The Chinese excavator market is expected to continuously grow in line with the Chinese government's policy to expand its infrastructure investment," Doosan Infracore said in an emailed statement.
Doosan Infracore has sold a cumulative 200,000 excavators as of November last year, becoming the first foreign excavator maker in China that has surpassed the major milestone.
The largest local construction equipment maker is slated to be sold to global shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH), which has the No. 2 local construction equipment manufacturer Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. under its wing.
In December, HHIH signed an initial deal to buy Doosan Infracore from its cash-strapped parent, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co.
Hyundai Construction Equipment will be the world's fifth-largest construction maker if HHIH buys it, the holding company's chairman Kwon Oh-gap said in his New Year's message on Jan. 4.
Shares in Doosan Infracore were trading at 8,140 won ($7.42) as of 10:15 a.m. Monday on the Seoul bourse, down 1.81 percent from 8,290 won the previous session. (Yonhap)