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SPECIAL REPORT: SPAIN
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
SEPTEMBER 2014
The Spanish market appears to be
growing after being greatly affected
by the economic crisis, if auctions in
the country are anything to go by
Getting back on its feet
T
he Spanish construction
industry has begun a
slow recovery after the
economic crisis, as the country’s
construction
companies
are
starting to adapt their business
models, according to Richie Bros
Auctioneers.
Between 2000 and 2008, the
Spanish construction market
thrived, as a 3.8% average annual
growth rate of the economy
meant that the sector could
flourish.
Valero Serentill, regional sales
manager at Ritchie Bros, said,
“There was a large appetite
for new and used construction
equipment in the market.”
However, in June 2008, the
global economic crash had a
major impact on the construction
industry and, in the period
after 2008, many government-
sanctioned
projects
were
cancelled.
Serentill said that the tightening
of the finance sector led to
difficulties in securing funds for
any new infrastructure projects.
As the economic crisis created a
housing crash, the construction
industry was badly hit, with
demand for residential housing
falling rapidly and over 1 million
properties remaining unsold.
When the recession initially hit,
local demand for construction
equipment dropped greatly. As
Spanish demand dwindled, many
companies chose to export their
products. Richie Bros said its
Spanish division was “able to offer
an efficient way to transcend the
market conditions and connect
local supply with global demand”.
He said, “With the eyes of the
world on Spain – and our Spanish
auctions – we saw a large increase
in equipment being exported
outside of Spain.”
STABILISED
However, it has found that
recently things are changing.
Serentill
said, “Supply
of
construction equipment coming
to our Spanish auctions is now
more or less stabilised and back
to normal levels.”
He added that one reason
for this was that much of the
equipment
from
Spanish
companies had aged.
“These items are well-sought
after by buyers from Africa,
Eastern Europe and the Middle
East,” said Serentill. “Besides
working with end users, Spanish
rental and finance companies also
found their way to our auctions to
sell equipment.
“Not only do we help them
sell, but we can also help them
recover equipment, which is
often a challenging task for them.
“With thousands of bidders
coming from around 80 countries,
our customers in Portugal and
North African countries are also
supplying equipment for our
Spanish auctions.
“Often it makes sense to
transport the items to central
Spain, if the right buyers are
there.”
Now there are changes in
the market and it appears that
there is a rising local demand for
equipment, and the construction
market is growing once again.
“When you open a newspaper
or read the news online, you see
signs of recovery in Spain,” said
Serentill. “The banks report fewer
bad loans, GDP is expected to
grow slightly, the tourism industry
is still expanding and government
stimulus-packages are rolled out
to boost the industry.”
He said another reason for hope
was the changes being made to
business models.
“Before you can look to the
future, you have to look closer
at the present. An important and
real change is that people are
getting a grip on the reality of the
market. Step by step you see big
and small construction businesses
all over Spain adapting their
business model to the new needs
and opportunities of the market.”
Some companies in Spain
have ventured into new niche
industries, and Serentill said
that others had branched-out to
South America to build success.
He said the new creativity of
Spanish companies was a big
boost for the industry in getting
back on its feet.
“Our role as an auction company
is to offer flexible solutions for big
and small businesses to buy and
sell the equipment they need,
and enable them to adapt to
their circumstances as fluently as
possible.
“Not only do we conduct
the auction, but we also offer
additional services such as
refurbishing,
equipment
financing
and
arranging
transportation, to bring value.
This can make a big difference in
the exchange of equipment.”
Ritchie Bros‘ next sale in Spain
will be on 17 and 18 September,
at Ocaña, just over 60km south
of Madrid.
Meanwhile, Ritchie Bros claimed
to have held a record-breaking
auction in the UK, at its Donington
Park, East Midlands, site. It was
the company’s largest-ever UK
auction, setting new site records
for total number of registered
bidders at more than 800, the
number of online bidders (over
490), number of lots sold (over
1,280) and number of sellers,
which was more than 80.
ce
The auction site
at Ocaña, Spain
Ritchie Bros’Vallero catches bids
from the crowd
