Some Facts on the Used Machinery Market in India

The market for used machinery in India is growing and is growing exponentially. India is an emerging economy and the requirement for used machinery to run small-, mid-, and large-sized businesses has seen a doubling of the market size in two years from 2008 to 2009.

Going by the current rate of growth, India could well become the world's fifth largest consumer market in another fifteen years with a consumer spend close to $2 trillion. India has always been a strong base for low-cost manufacturing and a lot of these goods are exported. This information seen in content of used plastic machinery means that the demand for economically produced plastic goods is going to drive the used plastic machinery market in this region.

Talking of plastics specifically, India has the potential to become the export hub for processed plastic goods, mainly due to low manufacturing costs. Reports indicate that export of finished goods from India could reach $ 200 billion by 2012 in addition to the estimated market of $ 300 billion. This is the simple reason why a lot of foreign players including us are keen on investing in the Indian market. Further, a lot of joint ventures are expected to take place in the Indian plastics processing sector. This is the reason why foreign players in the used machinery segment are keen to enter the Indian market.

However; order conversion ratios can definitely be better. Also, at present there seems to be an impression of associating used machinery with cheap machinery. This is not always the case. The processing units in India put a lot of emphasis on cost-effective purchases. Because the cost of transporting machinery from Europe to India adds to the cost, many deals can fall through because of this. This is seen more in the case of small machinery. Interestingly, in the case of larger machinery, the technological benefits of European machinery outweigh the transportation costs and businesses in India have no issues in importing such machinery.

All things considered, if buyers from India are to benefit from European technology and help the plastics manufacturing sector in India reach its potential, then there is a need to take a balanced view regarding the cost of a machine and its benefits.