Terex Corporation has reported a strong start to 2018 with first quarter sales of $1.3 billion, a year-on-year rise of 25%.

Sales for the Terex Cranes business segment grew 19% to $314m, driven by higher demand and favourable impact of foreign exchange rates, said a statement from the company. Operating performance improved compared to the first quarter of last year, however results were negatively impacted by disruptions in the company’s mobile crane factories caused by supply chain challenges. Terex said it is working closely with its suppliers to address the issues, adding that iIndications for future growth were positive, with the backlog at the end of the first quarter at Terex Cranes up 58% over the same period in 2017.

“Overall, we had a strong start to the year. Our backlog is up significantly in every segment and our global markets are improving,” said John L. Garrison, Terex president and CEO. “We will continue to execute our Transformation programme by simplifying the company and building capabilities designed to enable us to serve our customers better and faster than the competition.”

Steve Filipov, president Terex Cranes, added: “Global crane markets were fairly stable with pockets of growth as expected. We executed well in Towers and Utilities, and we continued to roll out exciting new products including our Demag AC 300-6 all-terrain crane and Terex CTT 472-20 flat top tower crane. Our global Cranes team is focused on operational execution and delivering on our commitments to our customers.”