Heavy equipment maker Sany eyes doubling of overseas revenue after Hong Kong IPO

Aiming to raise up to US$1.5 billion in its proposed listing, company eyes lucrative overseas sales amid weak demand at home

Sany Heavy Industry, one of China’s largest heavy equipment manufacturers, plans to use the sum of up to US$1.5 billion that it could raise in a proposed Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) to support global expansion, despite ongoing trade tensions between China and the US, according to an executive.

The Shanghai-listed company will use the capital to expand its sales and service networks outside China, Jiang Qingbin, vice-president of parent company Sany Group told the Post on Friday. The company, which filed for the IPO in February, is seeing strong demand from developing countries in Asia-Pacific, South America and Africa due to infrastructure development, he added.

Sany aims to more than double its overseas revenue to 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) in the next three years, Jiang said. Revenue from overseas markets in 2024 rose 12 per cent year on year to 48.51 billion yuan, representing nearly 65 per cent of Sany total revenue that year, it reported last month.

“[After the IPO], we will continue to promote globalisation, but globalisation is not about building factories,” Jiang said. “It’s mainly about people – building localised marketing channels is probably the most important thing.”

Sany is one of more than 100 companies, mostly from China, that are lining up for Hong Kong share listings this year amid improved market sentiment and a possibly narrow listing window amid escalating tariff tensions.

Founded in 1989, Sany manufactures equipment for concrete transport, excavation, lifting, road construction, and pile-driving. It was China’s largest exporter of excavators and concrete mixers last year, according to Chinese customs data.

The company has overseas production facilities in the US, Europe, India, Brazil and Germany, and sells to around 180 countries and regions as of the end of last year. Direct exports accounted for around 80 per cent of its overseas revenue last year, with the rest from production abroad, according to Jiang.

“The Chinese market used to be important for us, but due to the impact from the real estate sector, current demand for heavy equipment is not that big,” he said. “On the other hand, the overseas market as a whole is way bigger than China.”

The company reported 27.3 billion yuan in revenue from China in 2024, a 3.4 per cent decline year on year, with China’s real estate crisis playing a major role.

Sany will continue to prioritise the lucrative overseas market, according to Jiang, even though there are signs of a recovery in China’s property sector: the three major mainland makers of construction machinery – Sany, Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group and Zoomlion – all reported positive revenue and net profit growth in the first quarter.

“Markets outside the US happen to be our focus, particularly the developing and emerging economies,” Jiang said. “We see higher demand from those regions, and there’s a relatively high acceptance of Chinese brands.”

Regarding the trade war with the US, the company said it would have little impact on the company’s business, as North America made up only a fraction of its overseas revenue, while Asia-Pacific and Europe accounted for 70 per cent.

“We’re not worried about the impact on our components supply due to the US tariffs, as we have achieved supply chain independence during the three years of Covid,” Jiang said. “There is nothing we have to rely in the US or other economies for.”

Jiang added that the company was waiting until after the US administration’s 90-day tariff pause to decide on details of its overseas expansion plan.