CICA annual conference report

The first day was a machinery field day at Flemington Racecourse, and 42 items of plant ranging from aerial access equipment through to mobile and self erecting cranes. Most Australian equipment distributors had exhibits, and some being shown in Australia for the first time. A highlight was the first remote-controlled crane from a major manufacturer on a working display (although it was not the very first). The Grove GMK5095 attracted wide interest, but it is still unclear what reaction will come from State OH&S Departments, or for that matter, the industry union, the CFMEU, as this is a significant departure from anything previously seen or used on mobile cranes in Australia.

With the Australian market for articulated cranes almost 400 units per year, dominated by Terex Franna, it is no surprise to see interest from Chinese manufacturers. Zoomlion Linmac had a 20 tonne articulated crane, similar in concept to the Terex Franna articulated crane. The Zoomlion Linmac was assembled in China from chassis manufactured by Forward Engineering in Western Australia, but it is understood that future shipments will be entirely manufactured in China. The XCMG Panda that was shown at the 2007 Conference was absent, but is due for reintroduction after a number of major modifications. Local Boom Logistics-owned crane distributor James Equipment had a Sany crawler on display, but the new Fushun crawler crane distributor Universal Cranes was not able to meet the deadline.

The keynote speaker at the conference the nexrt day was economist and commentator Peter Switzer on the state of the Australian economy. His opinion was that Australia was in pretty good shape, even though the largest State, NSW, was in recession. The poor performance of NSW was offset by the resources boom in Western Australia and Queensland. The stock market has had a poor past 12 months with falls of 30% but this expected to stabilize with no more large falls forecast. Interest rates will continue to fall in 2009 with a further cut of 0.75% likely over three official rate cuts. China is underpinning Australia’s future growth, which will fall to around 2.0-2.5% in 2009 before growing stronger again in 2010. Unemployment will grow but the budget surplus is strong and more infrastructure expenditure is expected. Australia’s economy has decoupled from the USA economy due to its reliance on China and Asia on a broader basis.

Crane analyst Stuart Anderson presented a paper on “Crane Production in China”. Anderson has presented six papers to CICA Conferences since 1994. The relationship between number of cranes delivered, size of cranes, dollar value and an analysis of how the crane industry is structured was delivered in Stuart’s unique style. Interspersed with straight statistics was a running commentary of each of the competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, their affiliations with foreign partners and who was export-oriented.

XCMG dealer Australian Crane Importers were the leader of the pack of exporters of Chinese-manufactured cranes, having delivered around 100 units. All of the problems with providing an acceptable level of support, warts and all, were revealed. Engine changes, transmission changes and upgraded load moment limiters were all necessary to meet Australian owners’ expectations. It is refreshing to see importers taking a proactive stance instead of the usual sell-and-forget attitude that has been prevalent in the past.

Melbourne-based lawyer Mike Hammond explained how the new national approach to occupational health and safety issues operate on a criminal, rather than a civil, basis. All States will embrace the National template legislation and the act is expected to be in place in 2011. There is no proportionality in blame; you are guilty or not guilty, and you cannot insure against any jail sentences, he says. Insurance companies may be prepared to insure against monetary loss, but they will certainly not serve jail time if you are convicted. A National Review Panel is examining 242 submissions about all of the issues involved.

A unique session chaired by the CICA President, John Gillespie, offered the bosses of the three largest crane companies: Mario Trunzer from Liebherr Ehingen, Eric Etchart from Manitowoc and Rick Nichols from Terex Cranes. They were in general agreement about the main issues.

-Demand. Demand for large cranes (five-axles plus) is still very good and expected to continue for another three years. Some residential construction weakness will be evident in 2009. The overall peak is maybe now, but bigger cranes are still strong and smaller cranes are not as strong. The overall outlook is still very positive.

-Lead Times. Lead times have not diminished and this is not a healthy situation for the manufacturers because they often cannot supply their good customers. Smaller crane availability may improve but not larger sizes. A shortage of European welders is causing problems for everyone. It is necessary to attract, train and keep these tradesmen. This cannot happen overnight.

-Component supply. Tyre supply is now okay but there are still problems with high-density steel supply as well as supply of other components. Price increases from suppliers are a problem and not always passed onto crane buyers.

-1300 steel. The newly-developed 1300 steel will probably not be used in the short term, partly because of difficulties in welding. The use of this steel in cranes is not expected soon and other materials use will occur in the constant search for weight reduction.

-Worldwide standard harmonisation. Unlikely in the short term, if at all. With over 50,000 cranes in the USA operating at different stability ratings than the rest of the world it cannot be seen to happen soon.

-Latest technology advancements. MCG's new CraneStar, and Liebherr's new Liccon2 control system are major innovations. Kevlar tie bars are proving too expensive. Suggestions for future improvements include: Tier 4 emission-compliant engines, two engines per crane to reduce fuel usage, plastic operator cabins, LPG for carry-decks instead of dual fuel-engines, engine/transmission matching to reduce fuel up to 15%, and more use of electrically-operated cranes, such as self-erectors.

-2,000 tonne plus-capacity crawler cranes. The cost of designing and manufacturing these cranes are very high and there are other alternatives that are available. However, the top three are still embarking on producing these cranes as the demand is still good with at least 23 nuclear plants being built in the near future.