REALITY BITES

Australia and New Zealand crane companies bought as many telescopic mobiles in 1998 as the whole of Asia, including Japan. That at least is the startling analysis of Anglo-American industry consultant Stuart Anderson, who threw up this statistic in his presentation to the Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) annual conference a few weeks ago.

Okay, so we know from last month’s Cranes Today and previous issues that the Japanese/Asian crane market is in dire straits. But it is nonetheless surprising to hear that Down Under is On Top in the southern hemisphere.

So does that mean that the Antipodes is in overdrive? Hardly. In fact reality suggests a progressive down-changing of gears for both the Aussies and their near-neighbours the Kiwis in New Zealand. Construction work on infrastructure for the Sydney 2000 Olympics has generated a huge crane demand. While the data looks healthy compared with the Asian scene, Australia’s 1998 mobile crane sales were down 40% from the previous year, and a similar decline is expected in 1999.

This is generally due to the completion of two major infrastructure projects – the Olympics 2000 in Sydney and the City Link (highway construction) in Melbourne. Also since the Federal Government is introducing a Goods & Services Tax (GST), its impact has deferred major crane purchases until July next year when it comes into full force. Instead of paying 22% sales tax now equipment buyers are naturally choosing to wait till next year when they will pay only 10% and also be able to claim credit each month under the GST.

Another hindrance is the number of used cranes being imported. Although the major suppliers, Japan’s Tadano and Kato, have dropped their prices the “grey” market is currently importing two cranes to every new one purchased.

New Zealand is having it particularly bad. Ian Roebuck of the NZ Power Crane Association told the CICA conference that it was “a very slow period in the industry”, with highly competitive hiring conditions in New Zealand, due to the import of cheap used cranes allowing cut-throat hirers to charge rental rates at “stupid” levels. He commented that about 80 units of 30t-capacity used cranes had been imported in the past four years, some illegally.

A recurrent theme of the conference, held in Sydney, 25-28 August, was how to stay in business in the face of rapid technological change. Right from the start, the tone of the event was set with keynote speaker Wal King, chief executive of one of the nation’s leading construction groups, Leighton Holdings, arguing that companies must fully embrace the electronics age if they are to survive. He spoke about his own company’s progress with IT, with the growing use of e-commerce for economic global purchasing of materials, the application of satellite guidance towards driverless machines, and the demise of the mechanic’s tool box for equipment maintenance in the field.

The sheer speed of change and its effect on traditional crane industry culture – with real-time, interactive communications and control – was reinforced later by other speakers. Jonathon Jooste of Digicore and Sean Taylor of Vodafone spoke on GPS (global positioning systems), computers and the mobile network, while Gerhard Baden, the national distributor of Liebherr mobile cranes, outlined the details of remote monitoring and electronic troubleshooting of cranes in the field, in the interests of productivity and reduced downtime.

Other speakers covered trends and preferences for crane types and makes worldwide, the changing local roadability and workplace regulations, the effect of importing old cranes, and the outlook for the New Zealand crane industry.

CICA president John Gillespie, of Sydney-based Gillespies Crane Services, reviewed the year’s events: the retirement of CICA secretary Norm Jones, succeeded by Robert Lucas; relative calm on the industrial relations front (although some enterprise agreements are yet to be finalised); and a new logo for the association.

CICA is also assisting the National Road Transport Commission (NRTC) in its review of such schemes as national driver licensing, increased weights for heavy vehicles with “road-friendly” suspensions, and various controls and penalties applying to heavy vehicles. A special review by the NRTC focuses on cranes, including all-terrains with axle loads of 12t per axle, cranes towing counterweight trailers, and allowance for extra weight for taxi cranes to travel complete with lifting equipment.

The title of the conference was Setting the standards. Gillespie made clear why: “We need to set the standard and drive change so that the crane industry can prosper and be viable in the new millennium,” he told the delegates, who numbered more than 150.

Guest speaker Stuart Anderson gave a summary of worldwide sales and trends of mobiles in 1998. He said that 9,000 mobile cranes over 18t capacity were sold in 1998, with most of them in North America, Japan and Europe. Rough terrain units amounted to 50% of the global market, he reckoned, followed in popularity by all-terrain cranes, truck cranes and industrial cranes.

He commented that AT units were replacing truck cranes at an increasing rate, and in North America there was a growing demand for lattice-boom crawler machines, with Manitowoc claiming 95% of this market. And according to his records Australia and New Zealand had purchased as many telescopic mobile cranes as Asia and Japan during 1998, following the economic crises among East Asian nations and Japan.

Australian purchasing trends tend to follow world markets, but there has been a particular growth in the use of mini-cranes and aerial access equipment. This was reflected at the conference’s exhibition by the presence of names such as IHI, Unic, Maeda and Tadano promoting mobile cranes under 5t along with Genie, JLG, Grove and Terex access equipment.