News

Ritchie Bros sold around US$3.9 billion of equipment at 328 unreserved equipment auctions around the world in 2012. This represents a 5% increase in gross auction proceeds over 2011 and the highest gross auction proceeds in the company’s history. The firm achieved gross auction proceeds of $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012 alone, highlighting the strong industry demand for used machines. Ritchie Bros says that it also attracted record online bidder registrations and sold approximately $1.3 billion of

International Equipment Solutions (IES) has acquired Siac do Brasil from SIAC and its affiliates. IES and SIAC have agreed to cooperate in the future. IES was formed in September 2011 as a platform for investments serving the construction, agriculture, landscaping, infrastructure, recycling, demolition, mining, and energy industries.

Construction machines from Shantui are now being supplied to the United Nations (UN), for use in Africa. The machines are being used by UN peace-keeping forces in Africa, having passed the stringent testing and performance requirements of the UN for harsh road condition use and special applications. The deal came following the necessary procurement certification from the UN. Shantui’s supply deal is for machines including military-level bulldozers, wheeled loaders and road machinery.

New finance packages are now available for Caterpillar customers based in Africa, following an agreement between Cat Financial Services and Standard Bank. Standard Bank is Africa’s largest banking group and has set up a collaboration agreement with Dubai-based Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited (Cat Financial). This new partnership will offer a range of financial services to Caterpillar customers in six African countries. The collaboration will be branded Cat Financial Services, Services Provide

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) says it is confronting a shortage of technicians in Sub-Saharan Africa with a Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) project. The aim is to help support and modernise technical schools in Africa, and Volvo CE will take a hands-on approach with a project at Selam Technical and Vocational College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, providing new equipment, training materials, teacher training, ongoing curriculum development and apprenticeship opportunities fo

Equipment auction specialist Ritchie Bros is planning a huge sale of used equipment in the US state of North Carolina in September 2012. This unreserved sale of equipment includes no less than 60 Caterpillar D11 bulldozers as well as 20 other bulldozers. Also up for auction are over 30 large wheeled loaders and over 35 Caterpillar 777 trucks, as well as graders and other items of machinery. This particular sale is of note as the 60 D11 bulldozers are more than the firm has sold of this model over the last f

AUSA has opened a new subsidiary in Mexico to give the company a presence in a region. From Mexico, AUSA aims to strengthen its position in North America, said Paco Pérez Salinas, the company’s new sales director. Mexico also offers great growth potential.

Deere & Company plans to build two new factories in Brazil to meet growing market demand for its construction equipment products in Brazil and other South American countries. The total investment is approximately US$180 million with Deere investing approximately $124 million of the total.

Euro Auctions’ May sale in Dormagen, Germany, saw 1,400 lots (30% up on the February sale) go under the hammer, with 20tonne-plus hydraulic excavators being the most popular type of machine sold. Over 250 Internet bidders registered, and Internet bids were placed on 71% of lots with 27% of all final successful hammer bids being received electronically.

Auction firm Ritchie Bros has staged the world’s largest ever heavy equipment auction held between February 13 - 18. New records were set by Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers for gross auction proceeds (US$203million), number of lots sold (more than 10,000), total number of registered bidders (8,670), number of sellers (830), online gross auction proceeds (more than $47million) and number of online bidders (4,070). Every item during the six-day event in Orlando, Florida was sold to the highest bidder—regardless