Kobelco?s sales of construction equipment totalled Japan Yen 89.6 billion ($1.15 billion) in the first quarter of the fiscal year, a -18 per cent decline on the same period last year. The company said that despite improved demand elsewhere in Asia, the slowdown in China had hit its excavator sales. It added that demand for crawler cranes was up, but a move towards smaller models had seen revenues fall. Excavator sales from Kobelco Construction Machinery division were: 18 per cent from Japan Yen 97.7 billion ($1.25 billion) to Japay Yen 80.1 billion ($1.02 billion), while revenues for Kobelco Cranes fell -19 per cent from Japan Yen 11.8 billion ($151 million) a year ago to Japan Yen 9.5 billion ($122 million).