The Chinese engineering machinery manufacturing industry consumes around 4.5 million tons of steel annually, says the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA).

The China Industry Daily News reported loading machine manufacturers, which consumed around 1.4 million tons of steel a year, were the largest steel consumers in the Chinese machinery industry.

China's engineering machinery industry sold more than 400,000 engineering machines last year; including 96,000 wheel loaders, 57,500 forklifts, 34,000 excavators, 11,000 tower cranes and 6,100 bulldozers.

In 2004, there were around 1,000 engineering machinery manufacturers in China, including 124 foreign-funded enterprises and 15 public companies.

The combined sales of 23 Chinese engineering machinery enterprises in 2004 generated at least CNY1 billion (USD1.2 billion), which was 50 per cent of the total sales of the Chinese engineering machinery industry.