Shanghai Horizon lifts out of crisis

Shanghai Horizon Equipment & Engineering, one of the largest rental companies in China, has reported increased activity during March, compared to February, as a result of the improving situation in the country concerning the Coronavirus.

Chen Li, Shanghai Horizon’s senior sales manager/industry equipment (MEWPs), said the business was recovering and nearly all branches have reopened, except in Wuhan city, where the virus began, and the surrounding HuBei province. He added that utilisation was now at more than 50% and construction sites were working hard to catch up, following a two-month delay for many projects in China.

Shanghai Horizon has an aerial platform fleet of more than 11,000 units, and was in 19th position in Access International’s 2019 Access50 listing of the world’s largest access equipment rental companies. It rose from 25th position in 2018, when it had 7,470 MEWPs in its fleet, and was the highest placed Chinese company. 

The company continues to take action to mitigate the risk that is still posed by the Coronavirus. All Shanghai Horizon employees are required to have their temperature tested when entering the office and to wear face masks. “People are still not allowed to gather and most of the construction workers have not returned back to work,” said Chen.

Construction activity is also still suffering, as a majority of long distance travel between workers’ homes and construction sites is limited, explained Chen. “Schools are still closed until the end of this month. But we estimate things will become normal in mid-April for the whole business and its activities.”