Chinese tower crane renters sign agreements with Manitowoc

Manitowoc has signed tower crane supply agreements with 10 Chinese rental companies and dealers at the Bauma China trade show. The total numbers of cranes to be supplied has still to be finalised, but one of the companies has confirmed an order for more than 100 cranes.

The 12 month supply agreements fall short of a full commitment to buy a certain number of cranes, but John Wheeler, Manitowoc executive vice president for China, told International Cranes and Specialized Transport (IC) that the agreements were "a good faith gesture of commitment between the companies."

One of the ten companies has signed an agreement to buy more than 100 tower cranes from Manitowoc, all to be delivered before the end of 2011. Wheeler told IC that not all the rental companies would be ordering as many cranes, but that Manitowoc was "hoping to have good sized orders from each of the companies."

In response to increasing demand, Manitowoc is planning to expand tower crane production at its Zhangjiagang facility in China. Wheeler said Manitowoc remained "very confident" that the demand for tower cranes would be sustained in China; "Tower cranes are used just about every construction job in China."