The manufacturer attributed the increase to strong demand for its products internationally.
“Although unit sales of crawler cranes in Japan declined because of delays in pre-shipment inspection following the crane collapse accident that occurred at Kobe Steel’s Takasago Works in July 2018 [when a 1,250t 16000 J-H collapsed during load-testing], demand was firm mainly in North America and other overseas markets,” said the manufacturer.
The consolidated sales of the construction machinery segment, which includes cranes and hydraulic excavators, increased 11% year-on-year to ¥297.1bn ($2.71bn).
Ordinary income increased ¥6.7bn to ¥22.6bn, owing to higher unit sales of hydraulic excavators and the reversal of a part of the allowance for retained receivables in the hydraulic excavator business in China.