VANCOUVER – Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers , the world’s largest auctioneer of industrial equipment, attracted bidders from around the world to its unreserved public auctions in Los Angeles, California and Moerdijk, the Netherlands last week. The two-day event at the Company’s permanent auction site in Los Angeles on February 26 & 27, 2008 generated gross auction proceeds in excess of US$24 million and attracted bidders from 25 countries. The three-day auction held February 27-29, 2008 at the Company’s permanent auction site in Moerdijk generated more than (euro)32 million (US$49 million) in gross auction proceeds and attracted bidders from 58 countries.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – More than 2,500 people from 25 countries, including 40 U.S. states and 12 Canadian provinces and territories, registered to bid at the unreserved Ritchie Bros. auction in Perris (Los Angeles), California on February 26 & 27, 2008. The unreserved public auction featured more than 2,100 lots – including industrial and transportation equipment, heavy machinery, and real estate – and generated gross auction proceeds in excess of US$24 million. More than US$12 million of equipment went to out-of-state buyers. Over 730 of the registered bidders participated online, live and in real time, using the Ritchie Bros. internet bidding service rbauctionBid-Live. Internet bidders were winner or runner-up bidder on almost one-third of the lots available online.
“Once again we noticed that the new CARB regulations covering off-road diesel equipment are influencing the buying and selling decisions of people in the California construction industry,” said Richard Aldersley, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. “Equipment users are accelerating the turnover of their fleets and our large unreserved auctions help them do so cost-effectively. Since interested buyers from around the world participate in our auctions both on site and online, sellers can be confident that their equipment will be sold for global fair market value, regardless of what’s happening locally.”
El Cajon, California-based Cass Construction Inc. was one of almost 430 consignors at the auction. The company sold more than 100 industrial and transportation equipment items as part of a major fleet realignment.
“Due to the California Air Resources Board regulations that are coming into play over the next couple of years, we need to replace some of our older machines with new equipment to reduce our average fleet emissions,” said Stephen Johnson, Equipment Manager for Cass Construction. “I’ve used Ritchie Bros. for over 30 years because I like the way they do business: their honesty, integrity, professionalism, and the exposure they generate for your equipment. Ritchie Bros. brings in buyers from all over the world, which is very important with these new regulations impacting equipment values in California.”
MOERDIJK, THE NETHERLANDS – Almost 1,000 people from 58 countries registered to bid on more than 3,600 industrial and transportation equipment items that were sold at the unreserved Ritchie Bros. auction in Moerdijk, the Netherlands on February 27 – 29, 2008. The unreserved public auction generated gross auction proceeds in excess of (euro)32 million (US$49 million), more than (euro)27 million (US$41 million) of which came from out-of-country buyers, including many from Eastern Europe. Buyers from Romania purchased more than (euro)4.3 million (US$6.6 million) of equipment, while buyers from Poland purchased more than (euro)2.7 million (US$4.2 million) worth.
“We are seeing an increasing number of consignors and bidders from Eastern Europe at our Moerdijk auctions,” said Ralf Harders, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. “Our unreserved public auctions create a fast, efficient and transparent global marketplace for buyers and sellers of equipment. There is nothing like a Ritchie Bros. auction in Eastern Europe, but the need and demand for our services is increasingly apparent. We have established offices in a number of Eastern European countries and hope to begin conducting auctions there in the future.”
Among the equipment sold to buyers from Eastern Europe: crawler tractors, hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, vibratory rollers, skid steer loaders, lifting equipment and more.
www.rbauction.com.