Sectoral conditions
Industrial Trucks & Services
According to the KION Group, order numbers in the global market for industrial trucks were up slightly year on year in 2024. Based on official figures (World Industrial Trucks Statistics, January 2025), there was a substantial rise in order numbers in the EMEA region during the period January to September 2024. The APAC region registered slight growth, but the Americas region experienced a significant fall.
In the counterbalance truck market, the volume of orders for electric forklift trucks was at roughly the same level as in the prior year, whereas orders for IC trucks decreased by 15.3 percent. Warehouse trucks registered strong growth of 13.3 percent, mainly due to exceptional demand for entry-level models. Overall, order numbers in the worldwide market were thus slightly higher in the first nine months of 2024 than in the prior-year period. Because the average price of warehouse trucks is significantly lower than that of counterbalance trucks, the small rise in global order numbers is not reflected in the change in the value of the market (World Industrial Truck Statistics, January 2025). According to the KION Group, the growth in value of the overall market for industrial trucks (as measured by order intake) was therefore below the growth in order numbers during the reporting year.
Based on market data published by the relevant trade association on new industrial truck orders, the share of the global market attributable to electric forklift trucks and warehouse trucks increased to 76 percent in the first nine months of 2024. IC counterbalance trucks therefore accounted for 24 percent of the global order volume (World Industrial Truck Statistics, January 2025).
Official figures for the growth trend in the overall market for industrial trucks in 2024 as a whole were not available at the time this report was published.
Supply Chain Solutions
According to the KION Group and backed by data from market research institute Interact Analysis, the global market for warehouse automation solutions contracted only immaterially (as measured by revenue) in 2024, while the market as measured by order intake in the project business fell slightly (Interact Analysis, November 2024).
In the Americas region, the overall market expanded. By contrast, the EMEA region registered a noticeable fall in revenue that was attributable to a weakening of the general economic situation on the back of geopolitical risks and a persistently high cost of capital. In the APAC region, lackluster economic growth resulting from declining consumer demand and China’s real-estate crisis led to a moderate slowdown in customer investment in warehouse automation solutions (Interact Analysis, November 2024).
The macroeconomic conditions particularly affected the market for warehouse automation solutions in the customer segments apparel, general merchandise, parcel delivery services, and durable goods, whereas the grocery retail customer segment proved more stable and the food and beverage industry bucked the trend by registering growth (Interact Analysis, November 2024).
Procurement markets
The commodity markets presented a mixed picture in the reporting year. Having risen to more than US$ 80 per barrel at the start of 2024, the oil price fell to around US$ 73 over the course of the year, albeit with some fluctuation. The steel price dropped sharply after peaking at the beginning of 2024. The price of copper rose during the year, whereas the price of nickel (as measured in US dollars per tonne) went down.