At Bauma this year, Chinese manufacturers mounted their biggest international display so far. At the same time, Cranes Today sources were reporting that a number of EU distributors were working on deals to bring Chinese cranes into Europe.
For Glenn Adriaenssen, the attractions of these cranes are clear: “The Chinese manufacturers have solid technical know-how, due to the fact that they work closely together with big international manufacturers. They use international standard high tech components, and build user friendly machines with low(er) maintenance and repair costs. There is a rapid service of spare parts due to the use of standard components. These are good quality, affordable machines, with CE certification.” Adriaenssen is the Deurne, Belgium branch manager of Michielsens Trading, an independent spin-off of Kranen Michielsens originally set up to sell off cranes from the firm’s rental fleet.
Despite their geographical distance from Europe, Chinese cranes have two key advantages over local rivals: price and availability, says importer Arij van Adrighem, director of the Dutch crane rental operation and crane dealer of the same name. “The Chinese cranes are not better, but they are available.” He is currently importing XCMG mobiles, and receiving Sany crawlers in the next few months. “Demag is currently quoting delivery times of 2010. In China, they say three months: 100 units will take three months!”
He continues: “And the price is half of a Demag.” With such low prices, the crane’s residual value after five years on the job does not matter, he argues. “The rental price is the same. If you get finance, in two years you have paid it off.” Van Adrighem says that the cranes’ quality is OK. He trialled his first 50t XCMG in the 250-crane van Adrighem rental fleet for 900 hours. Then Sarens tested it for another 300, without a single breakdown, he says.
Peter Issitt, managing director of Crowland Cranes in the UK, is also working on importing the cranes. For his customers, simplicity is key: “For many of our customers in the UK, the technology is getting too far advanced to for them to keep control of servicing. With these simpler truck cranes, smaller companies can service and maintain them in-house. The have great lift capacities, good duties, and they are the right price for the style of machine.”
Michielsens is currently working on importing cranes built by XCMG, and has an exclusive distribution deal in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. The company is planning to bring three models of hydraulic truck crane to Europe, the 25t QY25K5 with 38.5m boom and 8.3m jib, the 50t QY50K with 40m boom and 15m jib, and the 70t QY70K with 42m boom and 15m jib. These will be arriving at the end of the year, joining two models of wheel loader that have already arrived, and a third wheel loader due soon.
Across the border, in the Netherlands, van Adrighem is also importing XCMG cranes. Arij van Adrighem said, “We have ten units each of the QY50K and the QY25K5, a long-boom version with 38m boom, in the yard. The QY70 is coming in November. We have sold five units of the QY25K5 to ACS Gep in Hungary. We’ve sold 50t and 25t cranes to Shuch in Germany, one 25t to Heeren in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, and Schot in Alkmaar has an option on two 50 tonners. But before we deliver them, I would like to have the Keboma test in good order.”
Van Adrighem explains, “The first CE-marked crane was delivered in July. I asked [notified body] Aboma+Keboma to look and see if the CE is OK. A Keboma inspector looked at the crane a half day and he has some points which I need to clear with the factory. The crane has boom extension cables and Keboma wants to see the calculation of the extension mechanism and the diameter of the sheaves inside the boom, etc. They need to know the dead head weight, so they can do the overload test of 25% plus 10% of the dead head weight. The upper cabin is made from polyester, and they want to have a certificate that the polyester is fire proof. We need to put anti-slip in the middle of the chassis. The seat in the upper cab is not height adjustable. The weight of the counterweight is not stamped in the counterweight. All points like this we need to clear.”
Michielsens is at a similar stage. Adriaenssen says, “Our company is now in the process of executing CE conformity tests on the XCMG machines. We offer a wide range of services such as user training programs, machine maintenance, stock of spare parts, repair workshop, service vehicles for assistance on the road, customised maintenance contracts, security test, etc. A team of highly qualified service engineers (trained in XCMG factory in China) is constantly on standby to uphold our after-sales-service commitments.”
In the UK, Crowland Cranes is also looking at importing Chinese cranes, this time from Zoomlion. So far, the company has imported two cranes for testing. Peter Issitt says, “We are setting up a new company, under a new name, so as not to conflict with our other businesses, renting and leasing cranes: it will only handle sales and servicing for these cranes. It is 100% owned by Crowland Cranes.”
“The only question is their lifespan and reliability. We’ve been trialling them: we want to make sure that we don’t do anything that affects the reputation of the business. So far, they are working well.”
“The current crane product range is good, we shall in the main be working with the new 32t truck (QY30v-1), 70t truck (QY70v-1) and the 70t crawler crane (QUY70), all of which are factory CE marked. There are other capacities available and in time we will expect to import these as well.” The QY30v-1 has a standard boom length of 34m and an 8m offset fly jib.
Issitt continues, “Our main objective now is to continue monitoring the two units that we have had working in the UK since April at a variety of job sites. The cranes are also being used for demonstration purposes, and we are getting good feedback from all who have tried the cranes with positive comments. One is being used from the Crowlands depot, by customers who want to look at Chinese cranes. The other is with a customer in the north of the country.
“We have been working on this since April 2006. We have been working with the factory mainly with the new range of cranes and the European specification. The cranes are factory CE marked and this process has also had CE input approval from the UK company Laidler.”
Issitt is looking to import more of the cranes, “Further orders of cranes due in the UK shortly, most of which are sold, will enable us to keep a close eye on the cranes mainly for reliability issues. As of yet the cranes in the UK are working well and proving trouble-free.”
After-sales support
Van Adrighem admits that European users of Chinese cranes will not receive the kind of backup that European cranes can offer. He says that the Chinese manufacturers are a little optimistic – or perhaps are ignorant of Europe’s geography. “The Chinese say, ‘Okay, you are now the dealer for Europe.’ That means that we could have one crane in Spain, one in Norway. How can we support them? Nobody can manage that. For Holland, support is not a problem.” When pressed, he says: “If there is a problem, we have to send somebody over.”
In some regions, the manufacturers have the initiative. XCMGrecently announced plans to spend USD 15m on building a 20,000 sq m regional logistics centre in Dubai, UAE.
In Europe, the very popularity of Chinese-made cranes may solve the support problem, though, as more and more dealers carve up the European markets and demand protection of their patch. Van Adrighem says that he can still sell anywhere in Europe, but that sales in some parts are getting more difficult. “In the beginning, you could sell everywhere, now there are more dealers, and they start complaining.” He received his first XCMG in January 2006, and has sold 100 units to Reliance of India.
Perhaps the most key support issue is obtaining spare parts – and Dutch-based Parts Supply aims to fill the service gap. The company was set up in 2005 to support partial owner van Adrighem, and offers new, used and reconditioned crane parts for European, and Chinese-made cranes.
“The Chinese way of working, in terms of documentation, is a little different to what we have known from Liebherr and Demag,” says managing director Guido Buijs. “You need some experience with the cranes and the parts, because many times you need to identify parts by description, or you need to double-check parts with the parts catalogue because the documentation is not always very clear. The manufacturers are improving very fast, there are many changes and new models. It is hard for them to make all of the documentation as well. We are collecting all the documents for new cranes and the components in the crane.
The company also supplies parts for Zoomlion, some of which Buijs says are exactly the same as XCMG parts, and also Sany crawlers. “Most crane spare parts are for the carrier: axle, clutch, gearbox, cabin,” he says.
Parts Supply operates a branch office with two employees in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. The office sources Chinese-made parts, and sells used and reconditioned parts for European equipment in China. “We have a small stock in Guangzhou. It is more efficient to hold stock in China than in Holland, because we save on transport costs,” Buijs explains, and it can ship direct to the end user. He adds that the stockholding is not large, and limited mainly to popular items. “The Chinese cranes are changing quickly. If we had a large stock, there is a high risk that we could not sell them anymore.”
Crowland is also developing its own after-sales service, Issitt says: “We are in the process of shipping an inventory of parts required to back up the cranes being sold. Service shall be completed by our works-based engineers and additional field-service engineers posted around the UK.”
A sting in the tail
As this article was being researched, the Chinese government announced tax changes that will affect the attractiveness of these cranes. As well as VAT on consumer goods, China charges a 17% tax on exports. In the past, this has been rebated for a wide range of goods, including construction equipment, which received a full rebate.
However, China has come under pressure from international competitors to end these tax breaks, particularly as the country’s domestic market is protected by import taxes: a 17.5% tax, and a further 10% levy if an equivalent crane is manufactured in the country. At the same time, the country is coming under increasing pressure over CO2 emissions. While these are low per capita, the sheer size of the country’s population and its rapid growth mean it will soon rival the US and Europe as a contributor to global warming. The government has sought to tackle this problem with the tax changes, and to nudge the country’s economy away from heavily polluting industries, such as mining and metals, and those with low margins, such as clothes and shoes, towards cleaner, more high-tech, sectors.
The tax changes, announced on 19 June, and implemented on 1 July, will affect 2,831 product types, or 37% of tariff codes listed by the WTO. They follow similar, but smaller, changes in September 2006 and April 2007. Cranes have been affected by the change, with the full rebate on the 17% tax reduced to a rebate on the first 8%: effectively increasing the price of Chinese cranes by 9%. Whether this will be enough to reduce their appeal remains to be seen: the tax change won’t make the cranes any less simple to service, or reduce their capacities, and many people will still consider them to be good value.
Another of van Adrighem’s chinese imports, a Sany crawler Sany crawler Adrighem Bauma Puyuan Zoomlion QY40V at Bauma China Puyuan Zoomlion QY40V at Bauma China An XCMG QAY240 at Bauma 2007 QAY240 Bauma Van Adrighem drivers line up with XCMGs for the trip from Holland to Hungary Van Adrighem drivers line up with XCMGs for the trip from Holland to Hungary Van Adrighem lines up the XCMGs for transport to customer ACS Gep The XCMG line-up A convoy of seven XCMGs make their way to customer ACS Gep in Hungary XCMGs on the road van Adrighem staff start up a 25t XCMG truck crane van Adrighem staff start up a 25t XCMG truck crane
