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Hitachi: Demand for excavators diving

The market for big diggers is drying up, says the CEO of Hitachi Heavy Industries, according to Bloomberg:

The worldwide market will shrink 15 percent to 17 percent in the year to March 31, worse than the 6 percent forecast in October, Chief Executive Officer Michijiro Kikawa said today in an interview in Tokyo. Demand may slide 10 percent to 20 percent in the next fiscal year with “no sign of a recovery,” he said.

Waning sales are forcing Hitachi Construction and bigger rival Komatsu Ltd. to reduce workers, freeze expansion in Asia and slash output. The global financial crisis has spread to the construction industry, triggering a sudden decline in sales in China and emerging markets.

“We can’t see the bottom yet,” Kikawa said in his Tokyo headquarters. “It’s unprecedented.”

Hitachi is Asia’s second-biggest machinery maker after Komatsu.

Can’t be too long before we get rumblings like this from Caterpillar. Fourth-Quarter earnings are out Jan 26.

It stands to reason that Caterpillar has a nice order backlog in some areas that should tide the company over through a few rough patches. Orders can be canceled, though.

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Tom Mangan posted at 7:32 am January 9th, 2009 |

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  1. Hitachi canceling massive expansion | Cat Stock Blog says:

    […] Hitachi was last seen here last week with a gloomy forecast for excavator demand. […]

    Permalink | Posted January 12th, 2009, at 9:49 pm

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