All Market & forecasts Articles
Eight of the world's 50–largest access fleets are in Japan. Murray Pollok reports on the growth strategies of their owner companies, all the more interesting because the rental market is mature.
Mini excavators in the sub 3 t category are enjoying a surging popularity, as rental companies respond to demand from their customers who recognise their benefits-simplicity, versatility and affordability. The last 12 months has seen a flurry of activity in the mini-excavator sector, as Kate Barker reports.
The first Europlatform conference for access rental professionals took place in Basel, Switzerland, on 11 September, and was attended by over 100 rental company managers, equipment dealers and manufacturers. The event was jointly organised by IRN's sister magazine, Access International, and the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF). Murray Pollok reports.
The Nordic region, like much of Europe, is enjoying a period of high demand for access platforms. As Patrick Hill reports, the sector is benefiting from the drive to complete jobs quickly and improve worker productivity.
Rental in China is still in its infancy, but the recent BICES exhibition in Beijing, China, attended by over 60000 visitors, provided evidence that its profile is rising, with one of China's biggest equipment manufacturers, Liugong, promoting rental on its stand at the show.
It's now a year since RSC Equipment Rental was divested by Atlas Copco Group, and just five months since the company's chief executive officer, Erik Olsson, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark the company's public flotation. In other words, the company has undergone some big changes.
US demand for asphalt is forecast to advance +1.7% to more than 38 million tonnes in 2011, according to a new study from The Freedonia Group.
Capital investment by US rental companies will be “flat to slightly down, but the overall tone is strong,” said Charles Szews, Oshkosh Truck's president and chief operating officer, speaking during the company's conference call for its quarterly results to September 30.
The US construction market has truly been bipolar. The housing market has been in recession for two years, while the nonresidential segment has enjoyed robust growth, says Scott Hazelton of Global Insight.
Bidders from 58 countries participated in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers' three-day auction in Moerdijk, The Netherlands on 27 to 29 February. Its two-day event in Los Angeles on 26 & 27 February attracted bidders from 25 countries.
Growth in UK construction output is expected to fall to just over +1% for 2008, down from the +2,6% growth seen in 2007 according to the latest forecasts from the UK Construction Products Association (CPA). The CPA says this low-level of annual growth is expected to remain until 2012.
Australia’s construction industry continued to expand in February, despite a slow down in the rate of growth.
Everybody talks about the growth of rental, but what is actually happening on the ground in individual markets? Murray Pollok reports.
European rental market size
How is India's rental market developing?
The Netherlands already has a relatively mature equipment rental industry – valued a around €480 millio annually – but ther is still enormo potential for grow according to one of the major rental firms in the country.
South African rental companies can expect to benefit from the boost to infrastructure spending as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 World Cup, but according to Dave Erskine, founder and chief executive officer of Durban-based contractor and rental company Erbacon, the World Cup is merely the icing on the cake of an already booming construction market.
Hungary's rental market is valued at a very modest €35 million by the European Rental Association (ERA), a figure that is, if anything, an overestimate according to Ákos Hajós (pictured), operations manager at Huntraco's Cat Rental Store division in the country.
Don't expect an explosion of rental growth in Romania, says Razvan Marcu, marketing manager at Marcom, a Bucharest-based distributor for Komatsu, Potain, Grove and Sennebogen.
Poland is one of the big potential rental markets in Eastern Europe, but is still very much in its infancy with total rental revenues of around €110 million in 2006, according to the European Rental Association (ERA).