The Euro Auctions UK site in Leeds proves it is Europe’s number one sales arena for the sale of construction machinery, agricultural equipment, and industrial plant, with over 4,600 lots going over the ramp in this four-day August sale.
Following Euro Auctions traditional summer recess, the August sale at the ‘flag ship’ site in Leeds provided buyers with no shortage of good quality equipment and machinery, and plenty of choice of makes, and models from over 4,600 lots that went over the ramp and a total hammer of £32 million.
Operating on three levels, the August sale was run as a ‘live sale’ with floor bidders buying on the day, which was supplemented by the live sale being streamed live, ‘on-line’ attracting 69% of all bidding and successful buying activity. The last day of this four-day sale culminated in an ‘timed sale’ on the Saturday.
Market Trends
Chris Osborne, one of Euro Auctions territory managers for the UK comments on the sale: “The current OEM supply-chain is still strangled, with delivery times still quoted well into 2022, giving the used machinery and equipment market huge appeal. My colleagues and I have been working hard with vendors to source, secure and consign for each Euro Auctions sale the best, late, low hours equipment we can find, and we are still finding new and unregistered machines, which our buyers like. This sale drew a solid crowd, and with Covid restrictions relaxing it was evident from the first-time registrations and the new faces in the crowd, that the used equipment market has huge appeal, and it was good to see so many new faces in the crowd.”
“Looking for a market trend, it was the smaller equipment items and machinery that were grabbing the attention of buyers, such as: mini diggers, site dumpers, 6T excavators, man-lifts, skid-steer loaders, with interest strong and bidding brisk. Talking to buyers it was evident that the smaller infrastructure and the domestic construction market had surged since Covid rules had relaxed, and contractors were acquiring equipment for specific projects, house building, landscaping projects, surfacing and civils projects. That said, the bigger ticket items were still grabbing the attention of buyers, and across the board commercial vehicles were in high demand.”
Whilst 515 consignors from 20 countries participated in this sale, it was the home market that made the auction their own, with 90% of all vendors coming from the UK. With growing interest in Euro Auctions, sale on sale, 20% of vendors sent equipment to the sale for the first time, another indication of the strength of the market.
Since Covid, bidder numbers at Euro Auctions, Leeds, have remained strong, with repeatedly 3,500+ bidders registering at each sale. At the August sale, 3,200 bidders participated with 15% being first time registrations, with 35% buying on the day. One statistic that Euro Auctions has seen over the last 18 months is that bidders and buyers are loyal to their own ‘country’ sale, with this being no exception, with the top bidding countries being: UK, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Netherlands and Spain.
