At Cranes Today, we like to think of ourselves as friends to the lifting industry. For magazines like ours, keen to support the industry we write about, there is a temptation to boost market confidence, even at the worst of times.
At Cranes Today, we like to think of ourselves as friends to the lifting industry. For magazines like ours, keen to support the industry we write about, there is a temptation to boost market confidence, even at the worst of times.
That is a mistake. What our readers look for, I hope, is the sort of overview of events that we can give as independent, but close, observers. We shouldn’t say all is good when everyone knows it isn’t.
But, three years after the market peaked, I am finally seeing some reassuring signs. At the end of 2010 and into the start of 2011, manufacturers reported a surge in sales of new cranes, as market confidence returned and rental companies began to look to renew their fleets.
That confidence took a knock over the summer, as Washington found itself locked in a highly polarised debate over government deficits and the battered undersides of the Eurozone’s many badlymanaged economies were exposed by the receding tides of the market. Temporary fixes have been applied to both problems, but neither has been resolved, and both could cause a new crash in coming months.
In a market like construction, which is heavily reliant on both public sector spending and private sector confidence, none of this is good news. However, recent results from both manufacturers and rental companies continue to give grounds for optimism.
In the US, in Manitowoc’s last two sets of quarterly figures, the company announced growth of more than 20% in crane sales. Discounting favourable foreign exchange changes, Terex reported crane sales up 32% in the third quarter. Across the Pacific, Kobelco suffered the other side of those changes, but still saw unit sales increasing around the world.
On the rental side Essex Cranes reported little really encouraging in terms of its rental business: utilisation and rental rates in its historic crawler business remained almost static. But, it reported one figure that does indicate a change in fundamentals: the company is now seeing demand for used crawler cranes.
That, along with the manufacturers’ sales figures, hints that one of the big problems facing the market, oversupply of equipment, may be coming to an end. It also shows that crane buyers are prepared to invest, both in new and used cranes.
As they do, Cranes Today will continue to try to help by reporting on the industry accurately. If you’d also like to know about what we can do to help you with your marketing as opportunities for growth return, you can find out more at www.cranestodaymagazine.com/mediapack.
