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I DA U N I V E R S A L M a rc h -A p r i l 2 0 1 4 25 Nuts and Bolts continued on page 27 NUTS & BOLTS continued from page 21 Ritchie Bros. February Auction Total Sales Top $166 Million, Online Sales Break Record Next to some cow pastures alongside Interstate 4 not far from Orlando, Florida, rows of used tower cranes and dump trucks were beckoning thou- sands of prospective buyers to the world's largest auction of construction equipment. On February 17-22, what is likely the largest annual sales event in Central Florida took place: Ritchie Bros.' annual February auction. e weeklong bidding war in Polk County drew 8,640 registered bidders (in person and online) from 84 countries, includ- ing all 50 U.S. states, all 10 Canadian provinces and one territory — all looking for bargains. And bargains they found. Forkli s, backhoes and asphalt-paving machines were lined up in colorful rows along the highway in what looked like an oversized Tonka Toy display. Ritchie Bros. logged sales of 8,800+ items that week for more than $166 million. e six-day unreserved public auction set new com- pany records for online sales, with online buyers generating more than US$54 million in gross auction proceeds, or 33 percent of total gross auction proceeds. Additional records broken at the auction include number of online registered bidders (4,400+), number of online buyers (1,000+), and a new Orlando permanent auction site record of sellers (830+). "Even though we're sitting in Central Florida, equipment was coming in from up and down the East Coast and from Canada," said Steve Kriebel, sales manager for the auction, which occupies more than 200 acres. Total sales this year sur- passed $166 million, Kriebel said. "We have sta rted another strong year at our February auction here in Florida. We saw strong prices in many areas, more specifi cally in the backhoe, aerial, truck and trailer, motor grader and bulldozer categories. Even though our inven- tory count was slightly lower than in recent years, average sale prices were higher. Additionally, we sold 80 percent more one-to-three-year-old equipment items in our core equipment categories, including wheel loaders, bull dozers, rock trucks, excavators, motor graders and forkli s." "Our February auc- tion in Orlando continues to be our company's largest auc- tion each year, and this year is no diff erent," said Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros. CEO. "Due to the severe winter weather that hit the northeastern U.S. in recent weeks, many of the sellers from the region who normally participate in the auction were unable to free up equipment from their jobsites to add to the auction. We also noticed a lower volume of cranes in this year's inventory, due to higher construction activity in the non-residential market. However, simultaneously we saw a more diverse and larger selection of equipment from the energy and transportation equipment categories than previous years." Ritchie Bros. conducted its fi rst unreserved auction in Orlando, Florida, with Ring Power as the primary con- signor in February 1984. at auction was "a great success," says Frank Fowler, Ring Power SVP/Director of Used and International Sales/Heavy Equipment Division, and it marked the start of a partner- ship that has lasted for close to 25 years. Since the auction moved to Ritchie Bros.' Polk County operation in 2001, it has refl ected the ups and downs of the construction industry, not just in the U.S. but around the world. During the economic downturn, auction lots were fl ooded with machinery no longer needed on job sites in Florida because the wheels of development had ground to a halt starting in 2007. "Crane rentals were down 50 percent in 2010 and 2011 from the peak," because of the drop-off in construction, said Alan Ashlock, president of Crane Rental Corp. in Orlando. Since then, international buyers have increasingly fi lled the bidding auditorium and VIP lounge. At last year's auction, registration included more than 200 bidders from Ontario and Quebec and more than a dozen from Australia, Ecua- dor, Colombia, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland and Egypt. Kriebel said demand for construction equipment in China and Saudi Arabia is down about 40 percent from a few years ago, possibly because of a decline in construction there. "South America plays a very important part in our sales, but interest from there has dropped off in the last few years," he said, adding that may be a result of buyers shop- ping locally for equipment.