Italy’s mobile crane industry has a hangover. Fiscal 2002/03 was a bumper year for crane manufacturers as Italian buyers took advantage of the Tremonti tax breaks that incentivised capital equipment purchases. Come 2004, domestic sales fell straight back down to 2001 levels. It was no surprise, everyone expected it, and so there was no great pain.

The tower crane manufacturers also expected their numbers to fall back in 2004. However, the slow-down never came and demand just grew stronger than ever. According to research by Cranes Today, most of Italy’s tower crane producers experienced strong growth in 2004. Self-erector manufacturers like Alfa, Cattaneo, Fratelli Butti and Potain Italia all increased output significantly, with the latter up some 20% to about 780 units.

Most had expected a softening in demand after a strong 2003, but it did not happen. The real estate market remains buoyant, perhaps as a direct result of poor returns from worldwide stock exchanges. Many Italians with money to invest are buying second homes or property to let, seeing property as the best investment at the moment. Small tower cranes are much in use, building new houses or renovating old homes.

For larger top slewing cranes, there was also no noticeable downturn, despite delays in major public infrastructure projects. FM Gru’s production was up more than 5% towards 650 units, while industry intelligence indicates that Carlo Raimondi’s output jumped 40% to around 280 units.

Italy’s biggest producer of top-slewers, Comedil, also saw sales jump dramatically for Euro 90m in 2004, from Euro 55m in 2003, although much of that was due to export successes. Comedil is part of the Terex group and exports account for a much higher proportion of its sales than for most other Italian manufacturers. Domestic sales were about Euro 30m last year.

Comedil’s one customer in the UK, Select Plant, accounted for Euro 20m of sales in 2004. Its other major export markets include Spain, where it sold about 100 cranes last year. Comedil’s goal is to double its annual turnover in the next two or three years and plans to achieve this by targeting new European markets and China. In eastern Europe, having Terex Financial Services able to offer financing customers is a key benefit. In China, the plan is to begin manufacturing there.

This year sees the launch of two new luffers and three new flat top models from Comedil. The first CTL 180 luffer was delivered in January and there are orders from the Middle East, Korea and the UK. A smaller version, the CTL 140, will be out by the end of the year.

At the top end of the flat top series, Comedil has won an order for its first 700tm class, 40t capacity CTT 721 from Indian contractor Jaiprakash, which will use it on a dam construction project. In the mid range, the CTT 230 will soon fill the gap between the CTT 181 and Comedil’s best selling CTT 331. At the small end a new concept is being pioneered. A prototype CTT 51, a little flat top with a 40m jib designed mainly for customers in Italy and Spain, is on the test bed in the factory.

Sales figures for 2005 have also been boosted by a Euro 15m contract signed last month with Belgian multi-national rental company Arcomet for an assortment of Comedil CTT 181s and 331s, self-erectors and SK 315s and 415s from sister company Peiner.

As previously reported, new from Raimondi is a clutch system for two-speed hoisting, shown at the SAIE 2004 show in October.

Product innovations in the self-erector sector include the model 204 from Benazzato, which lifts 600kg at 27m maximum radius. This crane has a telescoping section in the tower to raise its height by an extra 5m, to a maximum of 24m, making it the tallest crane in its class, the company claims. The theory is that self-erectors are often not tall enough to oversail roofs, chimney pots or antennae, and their height (or length, when folded) is restricted by the need to tow them to site.

Mobiles

The all terrain crane market, dominated by the German manufacturers, was at a comparatively low level in 2004 and no significant improvement is expected in 2005. The domestic rough terrain manufacturers, led by Terex Italia (formerly Bendini) and Locatelli, also found 2004 to be far from a vintage year after the Tremonti-fuelled boom of 2002/03.

The RT market in Italy hit the 230 unit mark in 2002 and topped 240 in 2003. In 2004 it was back down around the 2001 level of about 175 units. As well as Tremonti, a new high speed railway project also generated demand in 2002/03.

Both Terex and Locatelli had export successes in the Middle East and Africa, partially compensating for the domestic market.

Locatelli delivered 10 of its 40t capacity GRIL 840 rough terrains to Tartous Port General Authority in Syria and 15 of its 18t capacity GRIL 818 to DSI, the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works in Turkey. Both represent repeat orders.

Locatelli celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004 and remains in family ownership, headed by Carlo Locatelli. The company says that there are more than 3,100 Locatelli machines at work around the world.

New from Locatelli is the GRIL 860, its largest RT model at 60t capacity. It is based on the 55 tonne GRIL 855 but it has a new chassis, new cab and a new Caterpillar engine. The full power boom offers a working height of more than 50m.

Locatelli’s ATC 20 city crane remains central to its strategy of expanding its customer base from contractors (traditional RT buyers) to rental companies (which prefer road-going machines). To date, export sales have been achieved in Spain (to Gruas Fam, among others), France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Newly appointed UK dealer Peter Hird, who also represents Italian yard crane manufacturer Valla with notable success, last month took delivery of his first demonstration machine and plans to show it at the SED exhibition in May.

New from Terex Italia is the RC 45, launched last year. With a maximum capacity of 44t at 2.5m, its main difference from the 40t rated A450 model is that it has a full power boom. The A450’s second and third sections are hydraulic and synchronised and the fourth is extended mechanically. The new RC 45’s boom is also significantly longer at 37.4m, compared to 27m on the A450.

Ormig, which continues to have success with its yard cranes around the world, also continues to promote its 804AC truck-mounted crane, fitted on commercial chassis to help Italian customers meet road regulations.

Loaders

The big story in Italy’s loader crane sector last year was the acquisition of Fratelli Ferrari by Amco Veba. Investment continues this year, with a new 6,000 square metre facility being built at Amco Veba’s factory for painting, assembly and final testing.

Last month Amco Veba delivered 10 units of its new 950 model. This crane has, as standard, proportional control Danfoss valve with HBC remote control and the proprietary SDD and EBB electronic systems for fast and precise operations.

The first 950 has been working for several months in Holland on a MAN truck doing vehicle recovery work.

Six more units are being shipped this month to an energy distribution company in Saudi Arabia. This consignment is the first tranche of a 10-unit tender.

This month also sees the start of production on the 811T, a new vehicle recovery crane, a niche sector in which Amco Veba has specialised. This 11tm crane can reach 9.55m hydraulically. It has been designed to work with a rotator and car balance to lift cars.

Two new models will be ready next month, the company says. The 804 and 805 will have a lifting capacity of 4tm and 5tm respectively, with a new structure and electronic components. Up to four hydraulic extensions will be available, with a maximum horizontal outreach of 9.26m and maximum vertical outreach of 12m.

Highlights of the past year for Cormach were the launch of the huge 125000 E, which can be equipped with nine hydraulic extensions on the main boom and can carry up to six hydraulic extensions on the fly jib. Cormach also manufactured the first four units of the new M 1650, a truck-mounted crane derived from the previous model the M 1601.

This year, production will start on two new wall board cranes, designed for the US market and first presented in prototype last year.

In general, after a slight dip in 2003, loader crane production in Italy seems to have revived again in 2004, to about 8,500 units. It was certainly a good year for Effer, which achieved record sales. It delivered 2,232 cranes worldwide and sales revenue rose 18% to Euro 47.9m. Strong export sales were recorded in Scandinavia and North America.

Even better news, going forward, was that at the end of the year the order book, at nearly Euro 10m, was 60% higher than 12 months previously. It was quite a recovery for a company that admitted to having cash flow problems earlier in the year after dealer problems in Germany and Switzerland that forced it to write of millions of Euros.

Effer’s target for 2005, its 40th anniversary year, is to increase sales again by a further 15%. To achieve this, it is launching eight new models ranging from 2tm to 28tm capacity.

Last year Effer launched four new models: the 30 Easy Power (3tm); the 110 E and 115 (11tm); and the 1550 J-Power (114tm). The 1550 J-Power has a maximum vertical reach of 36.2m and can lift a maximum of 33.8t.

The big event for Effer this year is the construction of a new factory and headquarters in Minerbio. Building work is underway and it is scheduled to open around the end of the year.

New cranes Fassi include one from the heavy range, three from the mid size range and a light crane. At the heavy end, the F1300 AXP follows on from the success of the F1500 AXP and is designed for heavy duty work lifting large loads. The XP (Extra Power) system, in combination with the FX load control system (Fassi Electronic Control System), acts on the crane’s hydraulics to slow down the speed of movement while proportionally increasing the power, and hence lifting capacity. The XF system (eXtra Fast) combines with the multifunctional proportional compensating LS (LoadSensing) system to give multifunctional operation and variable speed in all of its movements. The ADC (Automatic Dynamics Control) system is connected to an information transmission system using can-bus IMC (Integral Machine Control), which means that it can be operated safely at higher speeds when not holding a load, and at speeds that are controlled according to the load being handled.

New from Fassi’s mid range are the F175A, the F195A, the F215A and the F235AXP. A new feature for Fassi is the linkage system with connecting rods between the column section and first boom section. To facilitate operations in height-restricted spaces, such as indoors, Fassi has introduced the Pro-link (Progressive Positive Link) to these cranes, which allows the secondary booms to rise up 15 degrees above the horizontal. All models can have up to six hydraulic boom sections and all come MPES (the Multi-Power Extension System) to speed the extension and return of telescopic boom sections.

Fassi’s ultra light range, designed for small trucks and vans, now includes the F28B. It can have one, two or three hydraulic extenders and is equipped with stabilisers that can be set extra wide.