Heavy equipment prices remain strong at Ritchie Bros. auction in Moerdijk

The participation of almost 1,100 on-site and online bidders from 61 countries helped keep prices strong at the unreserved public auction conducted by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in Moerdijk, the Netherlands last week. The three-day auction generated gross auction proceeds in excess of (euro)45 million (US$57 million). Out-of-country buyers purchased close to (euro)36 million (US$46 million) of equipment. Ritchie Bros., (www.rbauction.com), the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, sold almost 3,900 heavy equipment items and trucks during the three-day auction.

“Everyone was talking about equipment prices at the auction and both our consignors and our buyers agreed: prices were higher than they expected, given the state of the economy right now,” said Ralf Harders, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. “Our ability to consistently attract large crowds of bidders from many regions and industries helps keep prices strong at our auctions, regardless of the local market conditions. The auction theater was full of interested buyers on all three days in Moerdijk, and we had hundreds more people bidding online. It was good to see so many relatively new customers bidding, especially Polish and German customers who learned about Ritchie Bros. through our recent auctions in their countries. We’re continuing to establish relationships and educate equipment users about our unreserved auction methods in new markets worldwide.”

The Moerdijk auction featured thousands of used and unused equipment items for the construction, transportation, material handling, mining, aggregate and other industries. The recent addition of a Virtual Ramp room at the Moerdijk auction site enabled Ritchie Bros. to sell the mobile and stationary equipment simultaneously in two rings.