Gain in Spain

When SMOPyC began, the atmosphere at the exhibition was as cold as the biting Zaragozan wind.

However, as the show progressed, feelings improved, and a good deal of business got done much to relief, no doubt, of organiser ANMOPYC. It was upbeat about its Spanish event, claiming a 15% rise in exhibitors to 1,828, and a 13.4% hike in foreign exhibitors to 1,086, strengthening the exhibition’s claim to be a truly international event.

Among the record number of exhibitors were several crane companies, many of them “local” ie Spanish.

Comansa showed its recently introduced LC 5211 tower crane, which has a useful length of 52.5m, and can lift 1.1t at the end of the jib (1.4t at 50m). The company has so far sold around 50 units, mainly in Spain and San Francisco.

The second crane on Comansa’s stand was the top-of-the-range 21LC550, which lifts 4t at 80m, and has a maximum lifting capacity of 18t in a four-part-line. The crane, which has a freestanding height of up to 64.9m, has a larger cabin than previous versions, but the same frequency-controlled drive system for the hoist and trolley. The tower system is the same as on the rest of the 2100 series, and can be dismantled into panels for long-distance transport.

Also on home ground, Metalbo – the third tower crane manufacturer in Spain (after Comansa and Jaso) – was established in 1998, and began to export cranes two years ago, mainly to Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rico, and El Salvador. Approximately 10 per cent of the company’s business is currently overseas, and it wants to increase this, having now set its sights on the Middle East.

Following the recruitment of a new agent in the area – Jordan-based Al-Ghanem Trading &Contracting Co – Metalbo expects to ship one or two Model 6020 tower cranes (with a 60m jib, 2t tip load, and 55m height) to Jordan shortly, and also has orders from Qatar and Dubai. The company’s target is to sell around 50 cranes into the region this year.

Mobile dominance

Liebherr Iberica’s Josep Garcia reckons there are currently 2,250 Liebherr mobile cranes in Spain, all imported, 95 per cent of which are with rental companies.

He was particularly happy about sales in Spain of the LTC 1055-3 – Liebherr’s first City crane. The first LTC, which was introduced last summer, was delivered to Spain about a month before SMOPyC, and sold to Catalonian crane rental company Minguella. According to Garcia, the company has sold 12 units to various crane rental companies, and expects to sell around 10 more in the coming year.

Terex had a strong presence at the show, displaying a pair of Terex-Demag mobile cranes, one Terex-PPM mobile crane, a rough terrain crane from Terex-Bendini, and two tower cranes from Terex-Comedil.

Terex-Demag says more than 1,000 of its City Class cranes have been delivered since the series was launched at Bauma last year, and at SMOPyC it showed the AC 70 City, a development of the AC 60.

SMOPyC also provide the opportunity to show, for the first time in Spain, the AC 120-1 – also introduced at the Bauma.

Terex-PPM unveiled its new AC 55 L, a 55t crane with a boom length of 44m, for the first time in Spain. A new website – www.terex-ppm.com – contains information about the latest PPM products.

Terex-Bendini’s rough terrain crane, the A 400, and two Terex-Comedil tower cranes – the CBR 32H, and the flat-top CTT 161-8 – completed the Terex line-up.

Manitowoc Crane Group dealers presented Potain tower cranes, Grove mobiles, and Manitowoc crawlers.

Potain dealer Ibergruas showed the 6t-capacity Topless MDT 98, which offers a jib-end load rating of 1.2t at maximum jib length of 55m.

The 'Igo' range, meanwhile, extends from 1.3 to 4t maximum capacity, with 15 models. The new mid-range Igo 22, with 1.8t maximum capacity and 850kg at maximum jib length of 28m, was demonstrated at SMOPyC.

Last year, Manitowoc launched the Model 15000, a 250t capacity crawler crane designed specifically for the European market, and built at the MCG's factory at Wilhelmshaven in Germany. Spanish dealer Mopsa unexpectedly sold one of these during SMOPyC to Madrid-based crane rental company Gruas Aguado. Delivery was due immediately after SMOPyC.

Gruas Aguado had already bought a 700t capacity 18000 from Mopsa a week before the show, and it recently sold a third Manitowoc crawler – another 18000 – to Spanish rental company Alfa. Not bad given that the dealer had only expected to sell two MCG crawlers in the entire year.

From the Grove mobile telescopic range, the 130t-capacity GMK5130-1 was shown for the first time in Spain at SMOPyC. Also being shown for the first time in Spain was the latest version of Grove's mid-range, three-axle all-terrain crane – the 55t capacity GMK3055.

Graeme Riley, ceo of UK-based Unic Cranes Europe said that, after a slow start, his company enjoyed a great SMOPyC exhibition with all four ot its mini cranes sold from the stand during the show.

SMOPyC marked Unic’s entry into the Spanish market. Unic Europe was set up to CE mark the mini crawlers made by Furukawa Unic in Japan, and sell them in Europe. Furukawa Unic makes approximately 200 units each year for Europe and Asia.

Since March last year, the company has sold around 60 cranes in Europe, with 20% of its customers being rental companies, and the remainder final users, mostly construction companies.

Unic used SMOPyC to show its new A094CR. At 590mm wide, and weighing 1,000kg, the 094 is claimed to be the world’s smallest and lightest mini crane.