How will the price of uesd excavators trend in the future?
Market supply and demand
Increased supply: China has a huge number of used construction machinery vehicles, which are still increasing. In 2025, the number of vehicles has exceeded 9 million, providing sufficient supply sources for the second-hand market. At the same time, as the speed of equipment replacement accelerates, more old equipment will flow into the second-hand market, increasing market supply and exerting downward pressure on prices.
Demand fluctuations: From a domestic perspective, although infrastructure construction is still advancing, the growth rate may slow down, and the demand for second-hand excavators is relatively stable or slightly declining. However, in Asia, Africa and other regions, infrastructure demand is strong, and the export volume of used excavators has exceeded the domestic sales of new machines in 2024. In January 2025, the export orders of second-hand excavators accounted for 37%, and overseas market demand has become an important factor supporting prices. If overseas market demand continues to grow, it will alleviate the pressure of oversupply in the domestic market to a certain extent, and stabilize or increase the price of second-hand excavators.
Economic situation
Global economy: If the global economy maintains stable growth, the demand for excavators in industries such as infrastructure construction and mining will remain at a certain level, the second-hand excavator market will also be relatively active, and prices are expected to remain stable. On the contrary, the slowdown in economic growth may lead to a decline in demand for excavators in various industries, and the price of second-hand excavators will also be affected.
Domestic economy: The transformation and upgrading of China’s economy has gradually led to the development of traditional large-scale infrastructure construction in the direction of high quality and refinement. The demand structure for excavators may change. The demand for small, multi-functional, energy-saving and environmentally friendly excavators may increase, while the demand for large, high-emission old equipment will decrease, which will lead to a differentiation in the prices of different types of second-hand excavators.
Policies and regulations
Environmental protection policy: The country’s emission standards for non-road mobile machinery are constantly improving, and old high-emission models are facing the pressure of elimination. For example, equipment with national emission standards of II and below are gradually being eliminated, and the price of such equipment will drop significantly, and may even face a situation where no one is interested. Equipment that meets national emission standards of III and above has relatively stable market competitiveness and prices.
Export policy: If the country introduces policies to encourage the export of second-hand construction machinery, such as improving export standards and providing export subsidies, it will further promote the export of second-hand excavators, digest the domestic excess inventory, and stabilize and improve the overall price.
Technological development
Electrification and intelligent transformation: As the application of electrification and intelligent technologies in the field of excavators becomes more and more popular, new electric excavators have advantages such as energy saving, environmental protection, and easy operation, which will attract more buyers, resulting in a certain impact on the price of traditional fuel second-hand excavators, especially old fuel models. However, for some newer second-hand excavators with certain intelligent functions, their prices may be relatively stable.
Technological upgrading: Excavator manufacturing technology continues to advance, and the performance and efficiency of new models continue to improve. When new technologies are widely used in new machines, the second-hand prices of old models may fall due to backward technology.
In general, the future trend of second-hand excavator prices will show a trend of differentiation. The prices of old, high-emission, and technologically backward models may continue to fall; while the prices of newer, low-emission, and high-performance models are expected to remain stable or rise slightly, supported by overseas market demand. At the same time, market competition will become more intense, and car dealers need to respond to price fluctuations and market changes by improving service quality and optimizing inventory management.
