International Construction's Bauma China 2012 preview

Held between 27 and 30 November, the sixth Bauma China promises to be +30% bigger than the 2010 event, thanks to the addition of five new halls (N1 to N5), which have been completed over the last two years. As of March this year, some 1,900 companies had applied for space at the show, compared to the 1,892 exhibitors from 37 countries that took part in 2010.

Launched in 2002 and held every two years since, Bauma China is already well-established on the calendar of major international construction equipment shows. This year will see the exhibition rise to even greater heights, as it occupies the full 300,000 m² available at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC).

This puts it in the same ballpark as shows such as Intermat in Paris, France and ConExpo/Con-Agg in Las Vegas, US, but still some way short of the 555,000 m2 of Bauma in Munich, Germany.
Visitor levels remain to be seen of course. Bauma China 2010 was attended by 155,615 people, making it by far the largest construction equipment show in Asia. However, that event coincided with the height of China's stimulus-driven construction boom.

In contrast, this year has seen the Chinese equipment industry face the first real recession since it emerged as a serious force in the global marketplace a decade or so ago. This has come as the Chinese government has sought to calm inflation and prevent a bubble in the real estate markets, with policies that have impacted on both the demand for construction equipment and the availability of finance.

According to specialist consultant Off-Highway Research the Chinese construction equipment market was down -37% in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period in 2011. This is supported by financial results from some of the key international players in China, which focus on the excavator segment. The likes of Hitachi and Komatsu saw their revenues to the end of June almost halve compared to a year ago.

Having said that, there are encouraging signs in the market that could herald a return to growth for the sector. Interest rates have come down in several steps this year, while September saw the announcement of CNY 800 billion (US$ 127 billion) for 25 urban railway and metro systems throughout the country.

But perhaps more significantly, November will see the handover of power from current Chinese leader Hu Jintao to president-in-waiting, Xi Jinping. This will be accompanied by a host of other appointments at regional and national government levels, and is expected to be accompanied by announcements of various projects and investments that should give the construction sector a boost.

So while the year to date has been one that the Chinese construction equipment industry might prefer to forget, the timing of Bauma China could be particularly advantageous.

But whatever the political and economic backdrop to Bauma China 2012, the exhibition promises plenty of new equipment launches as domestic and international manufacturers alike unveil new machines for both China and the wider markets
in Asia.

Machine news

Liugong has been quiet on the specifics of its new launches for Bauma China, but the company says its exhibit will stress its "long line" of products. New additions are likely to be made to the E-series range of crawler excavators, which offers +5% more efficiency and an -8% reduction in fuel consumption compared to the D-series.

Also expected at the show are dozers from HSW Dressta, the Polish manufacturer Liugong acquired at the start of the year. The company said, "Liugong has the opportunity at Bauma China to introduce one of the most powerful bulldozers ever made to the Chinese market."

Key design features include Cummins engines, advanced electro-hydraulic steering with pre-set travel speed selection and automatic downshift. The dozers also feature two-speed steering, allowing gradual turns with full power to both tracks.

Shantui is perhaps China's best-known dozer manufacturer and its stand will feature the SD10YS, a machine fitted with a Tier 3/Stage IIIA engine. However, like Liugong, Shantui is also keen to stress the breadth of its portfolio, and other new machines on display will include its largest ever wheeled loader, the SL80W along with compactors.

New to the company's truck-mounted concrete pump range will be the HJC5121THB and an asphalt mxing plant, the JLB3000.
The company also promises that it will unveil a new star product at the show, which it describes as, "A major breakthrough in China's construction machinery industry."

Similarly, Volvo promises to take the wraps off a revolutionary machine for the Chinese market, but has at least confirmed it is a wheeled loader that has been specifically tailored to meet customer needs in the region.

Other machines on display will include representatives of the company's latest D-series crawler excavators in the shape of the 38 tonne class EC380D. Also on show will be the award- winning A40F articulated dump truck (ADT) and ABG6820 asphalt paver.
Foton Lovol, a company better known in China for its agricultural equipment, will exhibit 17 construction machines at Bauma China. Among them will be a newly developed wheeled loader, powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

LNG is a popular and widely available road fuel in China - many taxis use it - and Foton Lovol says there are advantages to gas over traditional diesel. One of the biggest selling points is the lower fuel cost. Based on prices in China, Foton Lovol says running the machine on LNG is about half the cost of an equivalent diesel loader. This is based on a 16 hour day and 300 working days per year (4,800 hours per year), and the savings come out to CNY 210,000 (US$ 33,000) per year.

The unit on show at Bauma China will feature a large fuel tank, capable of holding enough LNG for a 16 hour shift, while a three-stage filter makes it suitable for dusty environments. The tank has been safety tested to temperatures of 100° C and has also been subjected to 10 m drop tests.

The company also says that LNG is a cleaner burning fuel than diesel, which helps prolong engine life as well as protect the environment.

Metso is introducing the Nordberg C120 jaw crusher to the Chinese and wider Asian markets at Bauma China. With a maximum output of 540 tonnes per hour, the 26 tonne unit has been designed for large-scale mobile crushing applications in construction, quarrying and mining.

Like other C-series jaws from Metso, the C120 are designed for reliability and high productivity and come with a range of options to make them easy to install. These include a bolt-on motor base, flywheel guard and mounting pads. There are a reduced number of service points on the unit, making it easy to maintain.

Sandvik, meanwhile, has not released specific information about the new products it will launch at the show, but it says there will be a lot to see in the quarrying, demolition, civil engineering and recycling equipment categories. This will cover crushing and screening equipment, breakers, drill rigs and rock tools.

Tunnel boring machine (TBM) manufacturer Herrenknecht will have an stand at Bauma China that stresses its long history in the Chinese market. Perhaps most striking is its presence in the Pearl River delta, where it has supplied more than 100 TBMs to various schemes. These include 42 earth pressure balance (EPB) shield and six mix shield TBMs to the Guangzhou metro project and 33 mix shields to the Shenzhen metro.

It has also supplied 11 TBMs to various projects in Hong Kong, as well as to the Dongguan metro and Dongguan to Huizhou intercity rail route.

Giant will show several units from its traditional silenced breaker range as well as other hydraulic attachments including compactors and rippers. New additions to the range at Bauma China are expected to include a new mono-block breaker design and a diesel-powered demolition robot.

Manitowoc's stand will feature the Grove GMK6300L from its mobile crane range. This 300 tonne capacity unit features an 80 m boom, and it can lift as much as 12 tonnes when fully extended without the need for a jib or other attachments.

The company's tower crane range will be represented by the new MCT 385, the first topless tower crane it has produced at its factory in in Zhangjiagang, China. Manitowoc says it has built the crane to appeal to Asian buyers, and describes it as a cost-effective and powerful unit.

It has a maximum free standing height of 64.9 m, while when anchored to a structure, the hook height can be as much as 50 m above the last tie point. Maximum capacity is 20 tonnes.
Manitowoc also said it hoped to exhibit a new model from its Manitowoc Dongyue range of truck cranes built at its joint-venture factory in Tai'an.

Bauer, which has factories in both Tianjin and Shanghai, will be launching several new drill rigs in its BG Value Line range at Bauma China. They are designed for drilling of deep or large diameter bore holes by the kelly method.

Three rigs from the Tianjin works will be on show - the popular mid-sized BG 25 and the larger BG 30 and a BG 36. One will be equipped with a kelly bar for a drilling depth of
72 m, while the other will feature 2.8 m diameter drilling tools. for large diameter piles

Also on show will be equipment for diaphragm wall construction, built at the company's Shanghai factory. The machines feature a new in-cab display screen. Subsidiary Klemm, meanwhile, will show its small diameter drill rigs in China for the first time.

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Dingli, which took everyone by surprise with its impressive product showing at Bauma China 2010, will again be investing in the event, and says its 1,500 m2 stand will include six new telescopic booms with working heights from 20 to 43 m.

Dingli will also be offering competition to suppliers MEC and Snorkel with what it calls a 'Speed Level-style' articulating boom and a 16 m 'Ultra Deck' boom with 1.8 tonnes of cage carrying capacity.

Mantall, attending Bauma China for the first time, will show two new product lines, the IMP vertical mast platforms and the XD-series of diesel scissor lifts. The scissors will offer working heights of up to 14 m.

Baoda will display its newly-developed construction hoists for passengers and materials. The SCD320VA can carry cages as large as 4.6 m x 1.8 m, with heights of up to 2.7 m on a single mast. The SCD250V meanwhile comes with an adjustable cage and is designed for large loads.

There will be hundreds of other new products on show in Shanghai. Watch out for regular preview reports online at www.khl.com, and in addition KHL Group will have a team of journalists at the show producing a daily eNewsletter.