Ritchie Bros. Hosts Successful Edmonton Auction
Ritchie Bros. sold more than 4,600 equipment items and trucks during its first auction of 2015 in Edmonton, Alberta.
Sales at the two-day public auction, held Feb. 25 and 26, amounted to more than CA $84 million (more than US $67 million), making it Ritchie Bros. largest Canadian auction ever held in February.
“We had a great asset mix for this auction which attracted one of our biggest crowds ever onsite and online,” said Jim Rotlisberger, regional sales, manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. “The results of this week’s auction showed the ability of Ritchie Bros. to transcend local market conditions and combine the strengths of construction, forestry and other sectors to overcome the effects of lower oil prices. By bringing together equipment buyers from different sectors and geographies we were able to achieve strong results for our sellers.”
The auction attracted more than 8,700 bidders from 43 countries, including more than 5,250 online bidders. Equipment sold included more than 130 excavators, 75 truck tractors, 55 crawler tractors, 40 boom trucks, 30 wheel loaders, 30 winch tractors, 380 trailers and more.
Equipment in the auction was sold for more than 450 sellers, including Iron Brothers Ltd., a Nisku-based piling contractor serving the oil and gas sector since 2007.
“We are extremely happy with the prices we received for our equipment this week. It’s great to see that despite concern in the market, companies are still spending money and purchasing good quality equipment,” said Brad Stetler, Iron Brothers Ltd. president. “We sell with Ritchie Bros. every year as we upgrade our fleet. Ritchie Bros. offers the best advertising and exposes our equipment to the largest audience across multiple sectors.”
More than CA $38 million (more than US $31 million) of equipment (or 46 percent) was sold to buyers from outside Alberta, including more than CA $12 million (more than US $10 million) sold to buyers from outside the country. Equipment sold to buyers from as far away as Switzerland, Costa Rica, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. Online bidders purchased more than CA $45 million (more than US $36 million) of equipment or 53 percent of total sales.
“Our April Edmonton auction is typically one of the largest auctions we conduct each year, and this year we’ve extended the auction from three days to four,” added Rotlisberger. “Momentum is already building and it should be an exciting event. Anyone interested in selling their equipment in the auction can call our auction site at +1-780-955-2486.”
The Ritchie Bros. auction calendar features more than 125 unreserved public auctions around the world, including the company’s first-ever four-day Edmonton auction set for April 28 to May 1.
For more information on all of the Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers events for 2015, visit rbauction.com.
