Diggers Pile Up Unsold After Caterpillar Adds Capacity

Caterpillar Inc., Komatsu Ltd. and other construction-equipment makers have built enough capacity in China to satisfy global demand twice over while sales in the country are falling, according to a research company.

Manufacturing capacity in China is almost 600,000 excavators a year while the worldwide market is about 300,000, according to London-based Off-Highway Research. Inventories of crawler excavators in China are about 100,000, almost equal to projected 2012 domestic sales, the research firm’s Managing Director David C.A. Phillips said.