Ritchie Bros. held its sixth and final auction of the year in Edmonton, selling $62 million of equipment and trucks over three days, bringing its 2018 total to 41,400 items sold for $491 million—up 15 percent from 2017.
The Dec. 11–13 auction attracted more than 9,350 bidders from 50 countries, including 7,500 people who registered to bid online. Approximately 87 percent of the equipment was sold to Canadian buyers, including 75 percent sold to Western Canadians. International buyers from such countries as Malaysia, Australia and the United Kingdom purchased 13 percent. Online buyers purchased approximately 66 percent of the assets sold.
"2018 has been a year of changes and challenges for many of our customers in Western Canada, resulting in a lot of buying and selling activity," said Brian Glenn, Senior Vice President, Head of Sales Canada, Ritchie Bros. "This week in Edmonton we witnessed pricing pressure on oil & gas industry-specific assets as customers across this sector are positioning themselves for fluctuating activity levels heading into 2019. Meanwhile, core construction assets continued to bring solid returns in a still-challenging supply market. Forestry and highway transportation-related assets also performed well this week, continuing a trend we've seen over the last number of events in Western Canada."
More than 760 owners sold equipment in the Edmonton December auction, including a selection of late-model heavy construction equipment from Richardson Bros. Olds Ltd., a heavy civil service contractor based in Olds, Alberta.
"Once again Ritchie Bros. did a great job selling our equipment," said Frank Richardson of Richardson Bros. Olds Ltd. "We've been selling with Ritchie Bros. for years and keep coming back because the values they get us are better than anything we're offered for trade ins. They have a really good understanding of the market and their auctioneers always do their best to get us every last bid."
Final 2018 Texas Auction
Ritchie Bros. also reported finishing strong with its tenth and final Texas auction of 2018, selling 4,150 equipment items and trucks for $460 million in Fort Worth over two days.
More than 5,850 people from 58 countries registered to bid in the Dec. 11-12 auction, including 4,500 people registering to bid online. U.S. buyers purchased approximately 93 percent of the equipment, including 43 percent purchased by Texas buyers, while international buyers from such countries as Spain, India and Thailand purchased 7 percent of the equipment. Online buyers purchased approximately 60 percent of the assets.
"We had a great selection of equipment and strong attendance here in Fort Worth this week, resulting in our largest auction of the year and our largest-ever December auction—up approximately 20 percent from last year's record," said Neal Black, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "Demand for yellow iron continues to be high and we had a huge selection of transportation equipment—including 565 truck tractors—that also sold very well."