Ritchie Bros.’ massive February auction sold more than 13,350 assets for a record $297 million plus, the highest total in the auctioneer’s history and up 7 percent from last year’s $278 million total.
More than 25,900 people attended the auction from 88 countries, setting a new site record, including more than 11,300 bidders online participating in real time from around the world. At the end of the six-day event, approximately 84 percent of the assets were purchased by buyers from outside Florida, showcasing the auction’s wide appeal. U.S. buyers purchased 85 percent of the equipment, while international buyers from countries as diverse as Australia, China, Colombia, Germany, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates purchased 15 percent. Online buyers purchased about 49 percent 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 Ravi Saligram, Ritchie Bros. CEO. “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 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 U.S. $82 million, the largest single auction day in our history.
“Our results reflected strong pricing for premium construction assets with low hours. Conversely, we witnessed pricing pressure on assets with higher hours, which indicates supply may have begun to harmonize with demand. Transportation assets, including over-the-road trucks and vocational units, continue to achieve strong prices.”
Equipment highlights included more than 800 excavators, 640+ compactors, 430+ loaders, 395 skid-steers, 385 dozers, 210+ articulated dump trucks, 240+ dump trucks, more than 465 aerial work platforms, 465 truck tractors and more. Every item was sold without minimum bids or reserve prices.
