This data is from the 2013 reports.
IPAF: RENTALSTUDIES
The US aerial platform rental
market chalks up double-
digit growthwhile there are
mixed signals in Europe.
IRN
reports on the latest
market studies undertaken
by the International Powered
Access Federation (IPAF).
IRNAPRIL-MAY 2014
The European mobile elevating work platform
(MEWP) rental market remained stable in 2013,
continuing the trend in 2012. However, strong
differences exist among the 10 countries under
study: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and theUK.
Some countries achieved positive growth:
Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK saw their
rental revenue increase by around 5%. The UK
MEWP rental fleet appears to have reached its pre-
recession levels.
However, rental companies remained cautious and
kept an unchanged split between construction and
non-construction applications.
In Germany, both fleet size and rental rates
increased slightly and the trend towards non-
construction applications is continuing. In Sweden,
meanwhile, fleet size and rental revenue increased
while rental rates were maintained at a relatively
stable level.
Other countries such as Denmark and France saw
the MEWP rental market remain flat or decrease
slightly. Despite a slight increase in the French fleet
size, overall rental revenue did not increase, due
to a decrease in utilisation rate and rental rates.
In Denmark, neither the fleet nor the rental rates
increased.
Fallingmarkets
Marking the contrasts across Europe, the MEWP
rental market decreased in Finland, Italy and the
Netherlands, anddecreased strongly in Spain.
Trying to counter this negative trend, rental
companies de-fleeted and also kept reducing their
rates. Only Finland, which experienced positive
growthduring thepreviousyears, kept expanding the
rental fleet.
Overall, growth is expected in the European
MEWP rental market in 2014, but the report predicts
growth marked by contrasts among countries.
Germany and the UK should lead the growth,
while Italy and Spain are hoping for a stabilisation
in 2014.
IRN
T
he latest results from IPAF’s annual rental
market research indicate that the US aerial
work platform rental market is rebounding,
with stellar growth of around 10% in 2013. IPAF’s
2014 Powered Access Rental Market Reports
reveal
that the European market remains stable, although
marked by stark differences across different
countries.
Interviews conducted with rental companies in
the US confirm forecasts made in last year’s report,
even surpassing the growth rates predicted. Rental
companies expect the market to follow similar
growth trends in 2014 and 2015.
US hits pre-crisis levels
As predicted in the 2013 report, the US AWP rental
fleet expanded strongly (5 to 10%) in 2013 and has
now reached pre-recession levels. This rebound
is flanked by two factors – a slight increase in new
machine investment coupledwitha reduction in fleet
sell-offs. Similar fleet growth is expected in 2014.
While the US AWP fleet has returned to its pre-
recession size, rental companies didnot increase the
share of their business in construction applications.
Instead, companies increased their rental operations
in other sectors such as industrial, maintenance,
utilities, leisure, events, etc. This shows that rental
companies have become more cautious over the
years and are keeping a good level of diversification
to avoidpotential business risks.
Average utilisation rates increased slightly in 2013,
as did rental rates.
“The signs are that the US AWP rental market is
striking back and returning to its glory days, but the
industryhas learnt from theexcessesof thepast and
is banking on cautious optimism and solid growth
strategies,” said IPAF CEO TimWhiteman.
Liftnumbers
IPAF reports
IPAF’sUSandEuropeanPoweredAccessRental
Market Reports 2014werebeing finalisedas this
issueof
IRN
was going topress.
Both reports include forecasts for growthand
fleet composition in the coming years, andan
estimateof the sizeof theaerial platform rental
fleetworldwide, withabreakdownby region
andbymachine type. TheUS report also covers
Canada.
The studieswere conductedbyDucker Research
using the sameapproach tobuildon the
reports fromprevious years. New for 2014 is an
introduction into theAWP rentalmarket inChina.
■
Get the full figures andpurchase these
publications atwww.ipaf.org/reports
China research
For the first time, IPAFhas commissioned
research into theChinesemarket. Witha low
number ofmachines, Chinahas beena fast
growingmarket since 2009, with 15 to 20%
annualmarket growth. This growth is expected
to continueat a similar pace in thenext three to
five years.
Most aerial platforms in theChinese rental
market are locallyproduced. Therearenomore
than 100 rental companies inChina, witha few
generalist rental companies dominating. Scissors
represent by far the largest shareof themarket
due to their size, flexibilityand lower price.
Moredetails canbe found in the IPAFmarket
studies.
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