US-based manufacturers of plant, machinery and construction vehicles are looking to the building boom in the Middle East to hedge their stocks against the continuing recession in the US.
Indicative of the troubles in the US construction industry, the Dow Jones US Heavy Construction Index has seen a 40% plunge in the last year from 698.76 points to 402.54, and with greater drops predicted, US construction companies are aiming to increase their Middle East sales to save their profit margins.
Highlighting this new focus on non-American markets, Rick
Eisminger, international marketing manager of Iowa based on-site cement mixing truck manufacturers, CemenTech, said: “Currently the Middle East accounts for less than 5% of our total sales, but we plan to increase that to 20%
in the next few years.
“We’re taking part because, by putting us together with key developers and contractors in the region, it offers American companies an excellent opportunity to break into the Middle East market and take advantage of the construction boom there,” he said.