Record breaking hammer total is up 5%+ to almost £43m
European bidders turned out in force again (despite the weather) for the recent three-day sale in Leeds (11-13 April) organised by Euro Auctions,leading auctioneers of used industrial plant, construction machinery and agricultural equipment; resulting in another record breaking hammer total, up over 5% to almost £43 million.
“Our sale 12-months ago at Leeds achieved a record £37 million hammer while the sale here at the beginning of the year topped £40 million,” stated Jonnie Keys, Operations Manager of Euro Auctions. “That’s a jump of almost 20% year-on-year for this auction and with total transactions from our flagship Leeds site breaking the £200 million annual sales mark last year, we’re definitely increasing our position and appeal both in Europe and around the globe. For anyone who has never attended I would encourage people to come along to see for themselves the massive quantity and the quality of equipment we offer.”
Other records at the latest Leeds auction include a record breaking 500 vendors, who together pushed the total number of lots consigned to this sale over the 4,600 mark, another record, resulting in the average lot price exceeding £9,100 for the first time. There were several lots that went for around the £150,000 mark the top one being a 2015 Volvo A25G 6×6 articulated dump truck with just 2340 hours on the clock and came complete with an array of driver features including air conditioning and a reversing camera.
Online sales featured prominently at this sale with 44% of all winning bids being placed electronically. This resulted in the online hammer topping £18.6 million, up from the £16 million record set at the beginning of the year. Internet bidding has been steadily expanding across all Euro Auctions sales helping grow overall bidder numbers but online sales will never replace physical auctions which each receive strong and committed turnout as they provide the perfect opportunity to both test and evaluate the equipment thoroughly before bidding plus are a great social occasion.
Total bidder numbers for this auction were reported at almost 2,500 with around half attending the physical three-day sale. Just under 10% of all those registering for this auction were also first time bidders, clearly indicating the strength and appeal equipment auctions have with potential customers and over half of these new, first time bidders were successful in securing purchases.
Jonnie Keys continued: “Demand for quality used and ‘as new’ plant and equipment in the UK, across Europe and around the globe is definitely seeing a resurgence and the growth in the popularity of auctions and the rising hammer prices bidders are willing to go to indicates good economic activity in our construction, infrastructure, engineering and agricultural sectors. We are also seeing strong European interest in our sales with buyers from Poland accounting for over £4 million in this sale coming a strong third behind the UK and Ireland, closely followed by buyers based in Germany, The Netherlands, Finland and Belgium. Spain, France, Portugal and Lithuania also featured prominently in the table as almost every country in Europe plus many from across North Africa acquired lots along with a strong showing from the Middle East.
Other noteworthy new / extremely low hours and impressive lots that went under the hammer in this sale included: a 2017 Doosan DX530LC-5, one of the new generation of heavy crawler excavators, complete with reverse camera and A/C which achieved £146,000; a 2016 CAT 312E hydraulic excavator for £70,000; a 2014 Terex Finlay J1170 tracked jaw crusher complete with side belt and magnet for £116,000; an air conditioned CAT 657E motor scraper with cushioned hitch and fire suppression equipment for £80,000.
Expansion plans for Leeds
The Euro Auctions site at Leeds held its first sale in 2002 where just over 500 bidders spent around £7 million on just 1139 lots. Constantly increasing in size, popularity and frequency of sales over the subsequent years, in 2016 the original 26 acre Leeds auction site was extended with the acquisition of an adjacent 80 acre plot of land; with 40 acres of this being cleared and used immediately to better display the equipment being auctioned. In 2017 the Leeds site hosted six three‑day sales events and broke the £200 million annual sales mark in a year for the first time.
Whilst all the necessary infrastructure including the administrative offices, visitor parking, ancillary buildings and the main auction stages were already in place, with the increasing volumes of used equipment being assigned Euro Auctions will be initiating an ambitious redevelopment programme in 2018 that will see new auction, administration, customer services and workshop facilities developed on the site in order to better provide for the growing number of bidders attending sales and offer additional facilities and services.
Upcoming Euro Auctions / Yoder & Frey sales:
The next auctions on the schedule are Brisbane AU and Dormagen DE timed auctions, both closing on 16 May. Following that the next three-day Leeds site sales will be 23-25 May and then 04-06 July. Other Euro Auctions sales in Europe comprise a one-day sale in Zaragoza, Spain on 05 June; Dormagen, Germany on 27-28 June; and Dromore, Northern Ireland on 23-24 June. In the USA, auctions promoted under its Yoder & Frey banner are scheduled for 24 May at its Kissimmee, Florida site and 07 June at the Ashland, Ohio site with a further sale in Ashland on 20 September. Euro Auctions also conducts a number of offsite /customer disposal sales and timed ‘Internet only’ auctions. These all offer potential buyers a great opportunity to acquire some impressive lots. Full details for consignors and bidder catalogues for all these events are available on the website at www.euroauctions.com email info@euroauctions.com or on +44 (0) 2882 898262.
