37
APRIL 2015
ACT
AUCTIONS
INDUSTRY FOCUS
oil andgas segment is goingdownand
housing is goingup, they’ll switchover. It
provides for goodauctionactivity.”
You can imaginewhich cranesdo
well at auction then. The all terrainsdo
exceptionallywell, asdo crawlers and
boom trucks.
“Crane availability is generallyadequate
todemand in every segment except all
terrain,” saidTobón. “Higherqualityall
terrain cranes aredifficult to findand
lower endproducts are coming into the
market ingreater volumes.”
This is somewhat of anew trend. The
oil andgas industry is flushwith cranes
that havebeen in the industry for fewer
than10years, but due toworkingdouble
or even triple shiftsduring theboom they
look like they’re20yearsold.
Rough terrain cranes (RTs) are a tough
sell right now, too, according toTobón.
“You cango into just about anyU.S.
dealer and they’ll haveplentyof inventory
of newRTs from2013 sitting in their
yards,”he said. “I knockon thosedoors a
lot toget them toauctionbut theydon’t
want topartwith them.”
It’s all abalancingact, as aremost
things in finance, and things appear tobe
stabilizing, but apprehension still persists.
“We’reon track topre-June2008 levels,”
saidTobón. “The supplyand thedemand
curves are there. Thevalue is there aswell,
but there’s just a lot of uncertaintyabout
2015. Peopledon’t take financing into
account asmuchas they should, like in
2008. Financing facilities arenot inplace
because lending institutions arebeingultra
conservative. That has a tendency toaffect
themarket in the auctionand retail sales.”
Endusers are responsible for about 70
percent of IronPlanet’s crane sales. Their
software-drivenmodel gives IronPlanet
the ability tomanage a spectrumof data
for sellers theyotherwisemight not
have. It’soneof themain reasonsCAT
AuctionServicesdecided tomergewith
IronPlanet.CATwas losing information
toauctioneerswhoweren’t interested in
a truepartnership.With IronPlanet, they
became amore informed seller,which
is attractive tobuyers. Just take a lookat
their first joint auctionand the$48million
W
hen IronPlanetmerged
withCATAuctionServices
at the endof 2014, they
hadbig, bigplans for the futureof heavy
equipment auctions. Traditionallyan
onlinemarketplace, IronPlanet isnow
aiming tohost about 10 live, on-site
auctions ayearwith thehelpofCAT
AuctionServices. The first onewasheld
at the endof February, nettingover $48
million in sales.Onlyabout $1millionof
thatwas cranes, but there’smoreon the
horizon.
IronPlanet is targeting the segment of the
industry that loves the social aspect of a
live auction. Interactingwith competitors
and friends ina competitive environment
bringsout a level of excitement that online
auctions can’t alwaysproduce. That’snot
to sayonline auctions aren’t a thrill in their
own right.We’ve all been there, furiously
biddingon somethingonEBay,watching
the timer rundown, prayingwewin, but if
you’ve ever seena crane, and I’m sureyou
have, there’s just nothing like standing in
itsmassive shadow.
The cranemarket at IronPlanet’s auctions
is verydynamic, and that’sdue to the
versatilenatureof cranes as equipment,
according toDavidTobón, directorof
craneoperations for IronPlanet.
“Fortunately craneshave a tendency to
be able to switch fromone segment of
utilization toanother,” saidTobón. “If the
The used cranemarket
got a jolt after some
big auctions and a new
partnership.
John Skelly
reports.
Going once,
going twice...
AManitowoc 21000 lattice-boom crawler
being sold on IronPlanet’s DailyMarketplace.
