By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOT If business activity at Caterpillar Inc. is any indication, the market for construction and mining equipment is on the rise. That’s at least for the big boys. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the majority of the over 1,200 construction and mining equipment manufacturers in the United States are small or medium-sized. But the bulk of the industry’s sales are dominated by several very large multinational companies. Caterpillar is one of them. Caterpillar Inc., known as “CAT”, designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines. The company is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. Caterpillar is not only a huge international company that exports construction and mining equipment around the globe; it manufactures products in strategic countries. Although the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that companies in the U.S. construction and mining equipment industry faced tougher times in 2009 than in the past – largely because of the collapse of the U.S. and worldwide financial markets, the tightening of credit by the international lending institutions and the worldwide economic recession, this is not necessarily the case for global businesses like Caterpillar that explore new offshore manufacturing, mining and sourcing locations around the world. Poised for Growth For that reason, those in the industry say Caterpillar is poised for growth. In fact, Credit Suisse equity analyst Jamie Cook claims that the order backlog for large equipment is building for Caterpillar, giving it “healthy visibility” into 2011. Its financials seem aligned with the stars. Caterpillar is already indicating healthy earnings. For fourth quarter 2010 the company posted quadrupling profits at $968 million. Its revenue grew by 62 percent to $12.8 billion. It forecasts a positive 2011 based on continued demand from emerging markets and continued upward momentum in commodity prices. Company representatives attribute this to the improving global economy. Forbes magazine recently defined Caterpillar as “one of the most representative companies of the global economies.” A corporate press release points to how Caterpillar managed to increase sales volume in both their machinery and engine divisions by taking advantage of favorable price realizations. This was made possible, executives there say, because developing economies, where recessions were less severe, took deliveries to record highs. “[In 2010] we substantially ramped up production, improved factory efficiency, drove Machinery and Engines (M&E) operating cash flow to an all-time record, launched a number of capacity additions and new product programs to prepare us for the future, and announced several substantial acquisitions,” says Caterpillar Chairman and CEO HYPERLINK “http://people.forbes.com/profile/douglas-r-oberhelman/4242” Doug Oberhelman. His mood for the company in 2011 is very optimistic. Mirroring this optimism, analysts predict 2011 sales should top $50 billion in 2011, compared with $42.6 billion in 2010. These results are expected in the context of 3.5 percent global growth, 6.5 percent in developing economies versus 2.5 percent in developed economies.  In 2010, Caterpillar increased its production the most it has in 30 years. This year the company expects to invest about another $3 billion, with more than half of that being expended in the United States.  During 2010, Caterpillar also went through with its largest acquisition ever when it acquired Bucyrus International for $8.6 million. That acquisition is based on Caterpillar’s key strategic imperative to expand its leadership in the mining equipment industry. “For several years, mining customers have been asking us to expand our range of products and services to better serve their increasingly complex requirements,” says Oberhelman. “This announcement says to those customers, we heard you loud and