Recently, the China Machine Tool Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Association") analyzed and interpreted industry development data and trends, believing that despite many difficulties in 2024, the machine tool industry will usher in more development opportunities.
Relevant industry experts believe that strong support for the development of the industrial mother machine industry at the macro level, and the intensive implementation of various favorable policies in taxation, research and development, and talent training will surely promote the high-quality development of the machine tool industry. The transformation and upgrading of various user fields with intelligence and greenness as the main signs, as well as the resulting equipment updates and transformation needs, will also bring new market opportunities to the industry.
The industry is mixed
Looking back on the past year, the machine tool industry resumed growth at the beginning of the year. However, affected by factors such as the international environment, geopolitics, and weak investment in downstream equipment, the annual operating income and total profits declined year-on-year. Mao Yufeng, president of the China Machine Tool Industry Association, said that based on all aspects, the machine tool industry will continue to recover while under pressure in 2024. If there are no major changes in the external environment, it is expected to achieve slight growth throughout the year.
The latest data from the association shows that in 2023, the machine tool industry will achieve operating income of 1.0974 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.3%. The industry realized a total profit of 113.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 35.8%. The overall import and export volume decreased slightly, with the import volume declining significantly and the export volume increasing slightly. The overall import value of metal processing machine tools dropped significantly, while the export value increased significantly.
Based on the latest data released by several listed companies, the overall performance is acceptable. In February 2024, Kede CNC's new orders increased by 45.3% year-on-year, and the company's operating income in 2023 increased by approximately 43.37% compared with the same period in 2022. Code CNC said that in addition to the traditional five-axis vertical machining center, the sales volume of the five-axis horizontal milling and turning compound machining center increased significantly last year, and the market demand is strong.
The reform of Shenyang Machine Tool, which has been losing money, has achieved results. It takes "R&D, technological transformation, and market" as the main line, focuses on the overall work idea, focuses on the main responsibilities and main businesses, and strives to seize the market. The operating performance continues to improve, further consolidating the results of turning around losses and getting out of trouble. The company's net profit in 2023 will be approximately 27 million to 40 million yuan.
The 2023 annual forecasts of East China CNC and Qinchuan Machine Tool, which have been performing well for many years, have declined compared to the same period. East China CNC announced that it expects a net profit loss of 13 million yuan to 19 million yuan in 2023. Qinchuan Machine Tool's expected net profit is 48 million yuan to 65 million yuan, a decrease of approximately 76.36% to 82.55% compared with the same period in 2022.
Favorable policies bottom out and rebound
The China Machine Tool and Tool Industry Association has made a prediction on the current market. Taken together, the favorable conditions for the industry are stronger than the unfavorable factors. The basic trend of economic recovery and long-term improvement has not changed. Confidence and confidence should be enhanced.
In terms of policy, the machine tool industry is constantly ushering in a policy window period and receiving more attention. According to the association's inventory, in 2023, the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on the Policy for Additional Value-Added Tax Credits for Industrial Machinery Enterprises" and "Notice on Matters Related to the Development of the List of Industrial Machinery Enterprises that Enjoy the Additional Value-Added Tax Credit Policy for 2023" Policies such as "Announcement on Increasing the Super Deduction Ratio of R&D Expenses for Integrated Circuit and Industrial Machinery Enterprises" and "Guiding Opinions on Supporting the Equal Participation of the First (Set) of Major Technical Equipment in Enterprise Bidding Activities" have been issued one after another.
In addition, in March 2024, the State Council executive meeting reviewed and approved the "Action Plan to Promote a New Round of Large-Scale Equipment Updates and Trade-in of Consumer Goods", and the industry will once again receive favorable policies.
Industry experts believe that China's machine tool industry is currently in the intertwined stage of recovery from the bottom of large and small cycles. The general product life of machine tools is about 10 years, so the industry has a business cycle approximately every 7 to 10 years. From the perspective of the 10-year cycle, 2020 is at the lowest level in the past 10 years, and China and the global market will begin to recover in 2021 , affected by factors such as the macroeconomic situation and the epidemic, the amount of machine tool consumption has declined in 2022, and the machine tool industry is still in the bottom recovery stage.
Technology and talent are two-wheel drive
Faced with 2024, which is still full of challenges, representatives of machine tool companies put forward constructive suggestions for the industry.
A number of corporate experts made suggestions from the perspective of technological innovation breakthroughs in my country's parent machine. Wang Qinfeng, leader of the EDM scientific research team of Shandong Haomai Group Co., Ltd., said that in the development process of domestic industrial base machines, there is a problem that basic research, applied basic research and applied research are not closely integrated. He believes that the current engineering and technical strength of machine tool companies is relatively weak, the overall level of theoretical literacy is low and relatively scattered, and practice is weak in theory.
Wang Qinfeng proposed that we should take key industrial machine companies as the main body and accelerate the establishment of a long-term integrated development mechanism of industry, academia and research. We need to give full play to the automatic adjustment role of the socialist market mechanism, adopt a dual orientation of results and goals, and use high-end industrial machine companies as policy support targets. It is hoped that the establishment and improvement of the long-term integrated development mechanism of industry, academia and research can help achieve the leap between theory and practice, thus assisting the development of domestic high-end industrial mother machines.
When talking about the future market, Wu Fengli, chairman of Guangdong Topstar Technology Co., Ltd., said that domestic machine tools will develop towards high-end, intelligent and green, with higher precision and stronger rigidity. Breakthroughs in key core technologies will make domestic machine tools more Very cost effective. At the same time, personalized customization of machine tools is also a future development trend. It is recommended to provide policy guidance and subsidies to enterprises that manufacture and use domestic machine tool equipment by increasing relevant basic research and applied research, increasing subsidies for domestic industrial machines, academia and research, and accelerating the construction of a talent team to tackle "stuck neck" technologies. Guide more enterprises to use domestic equipment, stimulate research and development and production from the demand side, and increase competitiveness and originality.
In addition, Yu Xubo, Party Secretary and Chairman of China General Technology (Group) Holdings Co., Ltd., put forward suggestions on talent cultivation in the machine tool industry. He believes that the reform of engineering education should be further deepened, and qualified manufacturing institutes and industry leaders in machine tools and other fields should be supported to become degree-granting units capable of independently cultivating master's and doctoral degrees, thereby solving the shortage of accumulation and supply of high-level scientific and technological talents in my country's machine tool industry. question.
Ma Bing, leader of Ma Hengchang's team at Qiqihar Second Machine Tool Co., Ltd. of General Technology Group, also said that vocational education is a key link in cultivating and delivering technical talents for the manufacturing field. If the development of vocational colleges cannot keep up with the pace of industrial development, it will stagnate. The pace of building the reserve force of industrial workers. It is necessary to enable more and more young people to learn well, do well and stay in CNC machine tool majors.
