37
JULY-AUGUST 2013
access
INTERNATIONAL
Jeroen Rijk
, senior vice president for sales in
Europe at Ritchie Bros, has seen some interesting
trends in the used access equipment sector. He
shares these experiences with
AI
.
at auctions in Spain and the Netherlands,
“electrics, diesels, big scissors, small scissors and
a mix of booms, including larger ones.”
Much of that equipment is still coming from
Spain, where Richie Bros. holds four auctions a
year at its Ocana site. In June the company sold
132 booms, 156 scissors and 95 telehandlers
there, all from the domestic market. “After
2008 no one knew what was going to be the
real need of the market in the future, I think
there were lots of companies that thought it
has to pick up, so they kept their machines for
longer.”
The situation varies at different auction sites.
The Netherlands sees more rental companies
that are renewing their fleets, rather than
reducing their fleets, and the machines come
from across Europe. “In much of Europe,
renewal is a major part of business, because
they have had the equipment for so long.
We have also seen very good prices for clean,
late model equipment. Sales of new are not
what they used to be, so there has been less
equipment available through the whole
market.”
Although hesitant to be specific on the
matter, Mr Rijk believes that the used
equipment market has benefited from the
downturn overall. Turning his attention to
the whole access market, including used and
new equipment, Mr Rijk adds, “The question
is: when are banks going to lend money to
companies in certain markets? If you look at
the southern European market they have gone
through a deep recession, but I was in Holland
this week and it doesn’t really look promising
there either. We don’t know what is going to
happen in countries like France, or how long
it’s going to continue. It’s more stable than a
year ago but no one knows when things will
get back to normal.”
■
an emerging market that just wants four, five
or six units, it is an advantage to be able to get
those machines. In many cases those companies
get bigger, and then go to manufacturers/
dealers and get finance, so you see how new
companies in these markets are growing.”
Another observation is that a brand of used
equipment will sell better in markets where
that manufacturer is strong for new equipment.
“You pretty much know before an auction
where equipment will go. If a certain brand has
been able to establish itself with dealers and
service you will see that is has some impact on
the used equipment brought in there.”
Top choice
In all markets the choice is for leading,
established brands. “In emerging markets there
is not a flow of good quality used equipment
so people have to go out into more mature
markets where it is available. When Spain was
on the up it went to northern Europe to buy.”
As expected North America and Europe
are the biggest markets for used equipment,
with South America and the Middle East
showing strong growth; behind them the likes
of Australia and Asian countries will rear their
heads as and when a one-off customer needs
equipment.
Speaking to
AI
in late June, Mr Rijk said he
was expecting to sell some 500 pieces of access-
related equipment over the next few weeks
USED EQUIPMENT
A
ccording to Jeroen Rijk, at worldwide
construction equipment auctioneer
Ricthie Bros., the used access market
has grown considerably in the last five years.
“The access business is already quite an
important part of our business. In 2008, we
saw a slowdown in the market - lots of rental
companies had too much inventory, and that’s
when we really started selling large quantities
of access.”
“We then had a peak in 2009, which has
gone down a little - that was not sustainable
because people were selling heavily, and now it
is quite stable.”
Access equipment now makes up about
10% of total sales at Ritchie Bros. Mr Rijk
says that most of the auction sales are going
to companies looking for up to five machines,
rather than much larger quantities.
“We have seen a lot of access in southern
Europe and Spain because of the large surplus.
Some 80% goes for export, but they go to
different regions including India, Middle East,
Australia, and not just one market, so you don’t
have the negative effect of flooding a market
with 300 units.”
Of course emerging markets are a popular
destination for used equipment. “The advantage
of access equipment in comparison to other
construction machines is that even if it’s been
used for 10000 - 12000 hours it has suffered
very little,” says Mr Rijk, “So for a company in
Terex
AWP Genie
telehandlers
on auction at
a Ritchie Bros.
site in Caorso,
Italy.
J
High bidding
