WORLD NEWS
INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
AUGUST 2013
6
HIGHLIGHTS
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Euro Auctions has held
its first US auction at its new
North American headquarters
in Newnan, USA. In total 387
lots were auctioned in June
and 374 buyers from around
the world registered to bid on
the day. Overall, 35 % of all the
sales were from online buyers
in the USA. The next auction at
the Atlanta site is planned for
2 October 2013.
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Bridon International, a
manufacturer of steel wire
and fibre ropes, has launched
a partnership with Kanoo
Machinery, a distributor of
crane and industrial lifting
products in the Middle East.
The announcement was
made during a conference
on 21 May 2013, at the Grand
Ball room, Mövenpick hotel
Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia.
Speeches were made by Bob
Jennings, general manager,
Kanoo Machinery, and Steve
Hodgkins, general manager,
Bridon Middle East.
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Maxilift Australia, a national
company distributing Maxilift
cranes and Tommy Gate
hydraulic lift gates, has formed
a partnership with Furukawa
Unic. Maxilift Australia will
distribute Unic truck mounted
hydraulic cranes and Unic mini
crawler cranes. Maxilift will
launch its Unic campaign at the
CICA Conference in Hobart in
September 2013.
Manitowoc crane
sales up 7.6% in Q2
Sales in Manitowoc’s crane
division increased 7.6 % in
the second quarter of 2013.
Net sales were US$ 656.9
million, up from $610.7
million in the second quarter
of 2012. Manitowoc said the
increase was driven primarily
by continued growth in the
Americas for crawler cranes,
large rough terrains, and f
rom strong performance at
Crane Care.
Operating earnings were
$65.0 million, up 25 % on
the $52.0 million in the same
period of 2012. The operating
margin was 9.9 %, up from
8.5 % in the same period a
year before.
Glen Tellock, Manitowoc
Company chairman and chief
executive officer said, “Along
with our second-quarter
sales growth in the Cranes
segment, we generated our
highest operating margin
since 2008. Looking ahead,
we will continue to innovate
with a strong pipeline of new
products and services. This
should enable Manitowoc to
drive market share.”
Order backlog was $726
million at the end of June,
down by $50 million from the
first quarter of 2013. Second
quarter 2013 orders, at $604
million, were 6.2 % up on the
first quarter of 2013, while
slightly lower than the second
quarter of 2012.
Looking ahead for the year,
Manitowoc forecasts high
single digit percentage growth
in crane revenue and operating
margin. For the Manitowoc
Company, including both
the cranes and foodservice
divisions, sales were reported
at $1.05 billion for the second
quarter of 2013, an increase of
5 % on the $997.2 million for
the second quarter of 2012.
Additional speakers have been signed up for November’s International
Tower Cranes 2013 conference. The event is dedicated entirely to tower
crane users, manufacturers, designers, specifiers and buyers.
Speakers at ITC 2013 will include Dr Oliver Fries, vice president
global R&D, innovation and technology at wire rope specialist WireCo
Group Europe; Duncan Salt, director and general manager at HTC
Plant in the United Kingdom; Peter Juhren, national service manager
at Morrow Equipment in the USA and Peter Schiefer, Wolffkran CEO
and managing director.
The 5 November event, in Berlin Germany, is the third time ITC
has been held. The conference, organised by KHL Group for industry
leaders and senior managers, will focus on best practice worldwide,
safety and the development of common international standards,
regulations and work practices. ITC 2012 was attended by 139
delegates from 23 countries and 70 companies were represented.
MORE SPEAKERS FOR ITC 2013
Medieval experience
for Hugon’s Liebherr
Crane service provider Hugon
chose a Liebherr LTC 1045-3.1
compact crane for a job deep
inside the city walls of the
medieval town of Carcassonne
in France.
To reach the job site
the crane driver had to
manoeuvre through narrow
gates, fortress walls and long,
narrow streets. The crane
was accompanied by three
marshals.
“Carcassonne is actually
a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. Making a mistake like
touching the walls was simply
unthinkable”, Christophe
Vergès, a technical staff
member at Hugon, explained.
To help navigate through
the obstacles of the historical
town, precautions, such as
removing the storage box on
the front, were carried out.
One of the greatest challenges
included a 25 metre long
passage through the outer
ring of the fort, the Porte
Narbonnaise. The passage
consists of four gates, one of
which is offset at an angle of
around 45 degrees.
To overcome these
obstacles crab, all-wheel
steering and independent
rear axle steering for a small
turning circle, were used. To
pass through the smallest gate,
which had a clearance height
of 3 m, the driver’s cab was
telescoped forwards. It took
approximately 30 minutes to
travel 400 m.
At the job site two 1 tonne
distributor boxes were lifted
onto a flat roof.
The mobile crane carefully
worked its way through the sleepy
mediaeval town in the early
morning
