The Saudi Arabian construction industry has been experiencing a significant boom in recent years, driven by ambitious infrastructure projects, urban development, and economic diversification efforts. As the industry expands, so does the demand for more advanced construction equipment currently in the market as well as raw numbers when it comes to filling out inventories.
Take powered access equipment for example. Talking to people involved in the market, they estimate that there is roughly 6,000 units currently available.
At the moment, while projects like NEOM are in the early stages, that is not a problem. But if Saudi is to achieve and build at a pace anywhere close to its stated goals, then that number is probably going to have to double.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative has set forth ambitious goals to diversify the country’s economy and develop its infrastructure. The construction of mega-cities, transport networks, energy facilities, and entertainment complexes present a plethora of opportunities for construction equipment manufacturers and suppliers.
But we are only at the hut and cabin stage of things currently and the year of 2030 is – sensibly – beginning to feel like a year of peak activity not a final deadline for construction on the raft of residential, tourist, industrial and flagship mega-developments that are planned.
Small wonder then the equipment sector is frantically sending teams over to The Kingdom to pitch their wares to contractors, authorities and developers with one eye on getting into the market now before the getting gets good.
I have met with many people from the manufacturing side of the industry to the rental houses over the past two months who have gone into great detail about the scale of their effort to put themselves in the Saudi shop window. And deals are being made that should put them in prime position for when the market hits its stride. The question vexing most people is: when?
Bloomberg reported earlier in the year that business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector was expanding at the fastest pace in almost eight years and should see growth of 5% this year. So in some ways the boom is already underway.
Most are now talking about the end of 2024 being the real starting point. Those of us that were around for the UAE boom in the naughties will know that means we are probably two to three years away from the start of the peak. There will be some of you that are also reluctant to get too carried away and have been burnt in Saudi before. And they may have a point. Let’s not throw ourselves headfirst into the Saudi gold rush. It’s time for cautious optimism.
