Column: After three years of exports China is now short of lead
The global lead market has bifurcated since the start of June, with Shanghai prices significantly outperforming that of the LME.
Mining continues to be the most affected division.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, said Wednesday that its worldwide dealer machinery sales dropped 10% for the three months ended in September.
The worst affected of its division was the resources segment, made up mainly by mining equipment, which sank by 28% compared to the same period last year. Construction sales for the period also fell, but only by 3%.
The company said in July it expected weaker sales of construction equipment in the second half of the year in key markets, including China. However, it registered the highest sales drop in Latin America (30%) and the Asia-Pacific region (11%).
North American sales, instead, rose 11% for the period.
CAT has been hit especially hard by the slowdown of the past two years, having to lay-off employees and close down plants. Only in the first quarter of the year the firm cut over 9,000 jobs, bringing its global workforce to about 132,000.
The equipment maker is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings Thursday.
Shares of Caterpillar were down 1.27% to $94.67 per share in early afternoon trade.
