Euro Auctions has reported a 40% rise in the number of bidders in its second sale in Dubai held last month at its new permanent site in the city.
The global auctioneers of industrial plant, construction equipment and agricultural machinery, said the rise in the number of bidders, as well as in the numbers of successful buyers and new vendors consigning equipment to the sale, is a vindication of its decision to enter the regional market earlier this year.
This was Euro Auctions’ second sale in Dubai after it held its inaugural auction in the region in September last year.
According to Euro Auctions, over 400 lots went under the hammer in the auction, attracting strong interest from across the Middle East as well as from India, Western Europe and Russia. Almost $2m of the sales were snapped up by UAE-based bidders, with significant purchases also going to Oman and Saudi Arabia. Europe accounted for a further $700,000 of the total hammer value, with key consignments going to bidders in Germany, The Netherlands and the UK. Floor sales on the day accounted for the vast majority of business, with just over 20% being transacted online, said the auctioneers, adding that the numbers prove how much a physical presence in the region is vital to meeting local demand.
Euro Actions has leased a 91,000sqm site in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone. The site includes a purpose-built auction complex covering over 3,000sqm with a 360-seat, fully air-conditioned enclosed auction arena as well as ancillary buildings, workshops and infrastructure.
“We are absolutely delighted about how this sale has gone, firmly placing our Dubai operation in the region and on the calendar,” said Jonnie Keys, Euro Auctions’ commercial manager. “News on our recent arrival in the region and our ambition to be a professional and key player in the used construction equipment sector is certainly getting out and stimulating much discussion. An ever-expanding portfolio of vendors are entrusting us to achieve strong hammer prices for them when disposing of equipment, but it’s also about the full service that we offer and building a solid relationship with all involved. We’re also now signing up a number of the key equipment holders across the region as they look to use our facilities moving forward and this is only positive for bidders as the quality, quantity and variety of used merchandise coming to auction will only improve.”
Notable lots that went under the hammer at the Dubai sale included an unused 2016 Volvo EC210BLC excavator which went for $75,000. Telehandlers and loaders were also in good supply with a 2008 JCB 540-170 selling for $43,000, while a low-hours 2015 CAT 966 went for $147,500, said Euro Auctions.
“Having a permanent presence in the region is both opening the door to many new buyers and sellers and enabling us to better link together our global operations so we can offer a complete service and sell equipment in the markets where they are most desired and where they will achieve the best prices possible. Having a strong sales and support team here on the ground in Dubai, backed up by our international operations, has been a key factor in our success and was a key part of our growth plans for 2017, along with founding our successful new operation in Hong Kong,” said Keys.
Euro Auctions’ next Dubai auction will take place on March 5. Other upcoming sales include a three-day sale in Leeds, UK, from January 31, a one-day sale in Brisbane, Australia, February 8, and a five-day sale in Florida, USA, from February 13 under the company’s US subsidiary, Yoder & Frey.
