We would like to extend our best wishes as we welcome the New Year.
We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our member companies, relevant government ministries, and organizations for their continued support and generosity in the activities of Japan Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA).
Last year saw large-scale disasters occur all over the country, including the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year's Day, the Hyuga-nada earthquake and an issuance of the Nankai Trough earthquake emergency information "Massive Earthquake Warning" in August, and the Noto Peninsula heavy rains in September. We would like to express our heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by the disasters, as well as our gratitude to all those who are working hard toward recovery and reconstruction.
CEMA also pledges to do everything in its power to help those affected by the disasters return to their daily lives as soon as possible.
This year, we at CEMA are once again committed to contributing to the sustainable development of society through the transformation and dissemination of our activities, based on our founding principles of "Contributing to society through harmonization and development" and "Symbiosis and competition."
Turning to market trends for construction equipment under these circumstances, the demand forecast published by CEMA in August 2024 predicted that domestic demand would decrease slightly in fiscal year 2024, exports would turn downward, and the shipment value for the full fiscal year 2024 would be 3,161 billion yen (down 5% year-on-year), marking the first decrease in four years. In fiscal year 2025, both domestic demand and exports are expected to remain firm, with the shipment value for the full fiscal year 2025 expected to be 3,203.3 billion yen (up 1% year-on-year), the second highest shipment value on record.
The strong performance of the past few years can be attributed to factors such as the resumption and revitalization of economic activity in the post-COVID era, improvement in the delivery of parts and materials that had been stagnant, and the easing of supply and demand for ships. On the other hand, there are also a number of concerns such as rapid fluctuations in exchange rates, political and economic trends in the United States, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the situation in Israel and the Middle East.
In addition, there are a number of mid-to-long term issues we should respond to, such as increasingly severe and frequent natural disasters, Green Transformation (GX), Digital Transformation (DX), tighter international environmental regulations, supply chain instability, the need to secure and develop human resources, unfair trade practices, and logistics problems. Therefore, CEMA, centered on the relevant committees and subcommittees, conducts industry-wide reviews and takes action, including lobbying the relevant government ministries and agencies.
CEMA’s mission is to support Japan's construction equipment industry, which is critical for the world's infrastructure. We will continue to work even more proactively than before to address the above issues, so we appreciate your continued support and cooperation.
Last but not least, I would like to conclude my New Year's greetings by wishing everyone a safe and wonderful year.
Akira Yamamoto
President and CEO
Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
