2022 was a strong year for the used machinery market with prices resilient, demand high for good fresh low hours machines, with a shortage of new equipment from OEMs for the duration of 2022.
At the very last Euro Auctions sale of the year, the flagship sale site in Leeds, put just over £35 million of used construction machinery and agricultural equipment over the ramp in four days, including over 700 diggers of all makes and models. With market confidence in the UK still high with the Leeds yard stacked to the rafters, over 4,500 lots went under the hammer at the last sale of the year.
2022 was not without its challenges with access to stock being the major issue. However, the team at Euro Auctions excelled themselves consistently pulling into the Leeds sales between 4,500 and 5,500 lots of heavy earth moving, construction and agricultural machinery at each sale. With a reputation for sourcing good, fresh, late, low hours machines on a regular basis in addition to consignments of new and unregistered equipment, the Euro Auctions team continued to ‘dig deep’ and delivered, sale on sale.
Internet bidding continued to be strong at all Euro Auctions sales in 2022, a hangover in trading style from Covid, with 69% of bids conducted online. However, in mid-2022 the crowds returned to the live sales and at the final Leeds sale of the year numbers of live bidders were approaching pre-Covid numbers and when compared with the same sale in October 2021, there was a 20% uplift. 2022 was a stellar year for Leeds with the highest yearly hammer total to date at the years end with over £329, million and the highest number of items sold in one year, at one site, with 40,000+ lots going under the hammer.
Excavators in High Demand – Leeds is now the DIGGER capital of the UK
The demand for excavators in the UK has been unprecedented during the last 12 months, with the industry dubbing Euro Auctions, Leeds, as the ‘digger capital’ of the World’. Throughout 2022, at the Euro Auctions sale in Leeds anywhere from 700 and 1,000 variations of makes, models years, hours and types of excavators have gone over the ramp at each sale, a statistic unmatched anywhere globally. Due to the quality of the equipment offered and the exchange rates movements throughout the year, Leeds has seen increased levels of international buyers participating and using Leeds to pick up equipment for export. Euro Auctions sellers have also been taking advantage of this and have been consigning to Euro Auctions sales in the US, branded as Yoder & Frey, in particular the upcoming multi day Winter auction in Florida in February.
UK Trends
Top buying regions and countries have been Europe, with the Middle East being consistently the second region by volume. The UK and the Republic of Ireland being top buying countries with The Netherlands and Poland constantly appearing in the top five.
A new emerging buyer in the last quarter of the year, previously not seen at the Euro Auctions sale in Leeds is the Ukraine. Registering online and buying utility earth moving equipment and smaller excavators, generators and telehandlers, One can assume that equipment is destined for clean-up in this war-ravaged region of Europe. Increased levels of buyers from Ukraine bought in Leeds in October and the November / December sale, as well as the recent Dormagen sale where Ukrainian buyers were the 9th top bidding nation.
Chris Osborne, Sales Manager at Euro Auctions comments on the recent 20220 sales
“During the last 12 months Euro Auctions put on eight record breaking sales at the Leeds site and no sooner one sale ends, the yard is filling up for the next auction. The ability for Euro Auctions to fill the Leeds yard with 5,500 + machines, 8-times a year, is a testimony to the ability of the global sales managers to consign good equipment for this sale. With sales managers in the UK, Spain, Germany, Middle East as well as the USA and Australia, Euro Auction is able to direct consignment into, not just Leeds, but to wherever demand is strongest”.
“Prices have been strong, helped by the weaker pound and we have seen bidders from Europe and the USA bidding more aggressively. At the last two sales of 2022, 45% of bidders were from the UK, showing an increase in global bidders. Bidder registration from the USA jumped by 700% since October and I personally have seen those bidders buying multiple lots as they sit on the ramp, buying not one of five CAT or Hitachi diggers, but all five, which shows the appetite for the stock we are selling. In addition, at all sales we are hearing auctioneers repeatedly referencing online bidders in Texas, Florida and other states, which again, is fast becoming the chant of the auctioneer on sales day”.
“Successful bidders from the USA have been growing sale on sale, and in October, approximately £2 million of the £43 million hammer went to bidders from America., Registered buyers from the USA are always evident, bidding in the early stages of the sale, so distance is clearly no barrier. You can get a stripped-down Cat 320D Excavator or a couple of telehandlers into a 40’ shipping container and for a few thousand pounds it can be shipped anywhere in the world. However, a trend we saw throughout the year was local buyers bidding more aggressively and winning!”
“Another noticeable trend at the last few sales, the crowds are back! Whilst a lot of bidding takes place online, bidders are browsing in person and this last sale the number of floor bidders were back to pre-Covid numbers and not just from the UK. We are seeing registrations from across Europe turn up in person”.
What is selling well? Everything sells at Euro Auctions as the crowd sets the pace for the sale as all sales are unreserved. In the last three months, making good money have been the mid-range machinery such as 6t excavators, backhoes, telehandlers and wheeled loaders”.
