More than 15,900 bidders from 88 countries attended the event held on a 220-acre (89.03 hectare) site in Orlando, Florida from 18-23 February. The US$297m total was 7% up on the US$278m total for the 2018 event.
The company says this year's event was its largest auction ever with more than 13,350 assets sold. Equipment highlights included 800+ excavators, 640+ compactors, 430+ loaders, 395 skid steers, 385 dozers, 210+ articulated dump trucks, 240+ dump trucks, 465+ aerial work platforms, and 465+ truck tractors. very item was sold without minimum bids or reserve prices.
More than 11,300 bidders from around the world participated online in real time. US buyers purchased 85% of the equipment, while international buyers from countries such as Australia, China, Colombia, Germany, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates purchased 15%. Online buyers purchased approximately 49% of the equipment.
"We had a great week in Orlando, helping more than 1,150 companies sell their surplus equipment to buyers from nearly every corner of the world," said Ritchie Brothers CEO Ravi Saligram. "Orlando is the Super Bowl of auctions and our team was prepared and performed tremendously, helping us set multiple company records, including our largest ever gross transactional value (GTV) and the most equipment we've sold in one auction in 60-plus years of business. On Day Five alone we sold approximately 2,300 items for more than US$82mn — the largest single auction day in our history!"
He added that the auction results reflected strong pricing for premium construction assets with low hours. Conversely, it also saw pricing pressure on assets with higher hours, which Saligram said indicates supply may have begun to harmonise with demand. He added that transportation assets, including over-the-road trucks and vocational units, continue to achieve strong prices.
