Capital Equipment News August 2015

COMMENT

T he success of bauma Africa 2013 was reflected by the number of exhibitors that have signed up for the 2015 event. I suppose the change of venue may also have had a major effect on the support it has received. The inaugural bauma Africa international trade fair took place at the Gallagher Estate events complex in Johannesburg in Sep- tember. There, some 754 exhibitors from 38 countries spent four days engaging with current and potential clients from around the world on latest developments in the con- struction machinery, building materials and mining machine segments. South African companies were not to be outdone by their international counterparts and pulled out all the stops to feature their products. Last year, I visited the original site of Conex- po in Las Vegas and was really taken aback by the magnitude of the event. The bauma event in Germany in 2013 had an impressive 530 000 visitors from over 200 countries which converged on the Munich Exhibition Centre in April. Not only did this exhibition of bauma break all previous records for exhibi- bauma 2015

tor numbers and exhibition space, it also at- tracted the greatest numbers of visitors yet.

appears that the cycle has bottomed out with a number of encouraging signs from finan- cial performance results, order book growth and public infrastructure commitments of individual companies. There are, however, a number of risk factors that could impact on the industry but we have managed to over- come many of them in the past. Infrastruc- ture spending is still on the cards, which is always a positive sign for future growth. Bauma Conexpo Africa has definitely not been mis-timed as it adds a positive tone to some negative political aspects and will give a boost to our future development.

The local event, in order to foster co-opera- tion with the international partners has been changed to Bauma Connexpo Africa, which is the result of a joint venture entered into after the event in 2013. The market for construction and mining equipment in sub-Sahara Africa holds great potential, a fact that is reflected in the num- ber of exhibitors that have signed up for the event. Several major construction machinery suppliers are regarding bauma Africa as an opportunity to unveil new product technolo- gies and offer solutions to their clients. Also, many see this as an opportunity to build on the inaugural show by attracting more indus- try role players and generating positive spin- offs-for the region, the industry and their customers. The South African construction industry was particularly hard hit when the infrastructure development which was high, leading to the 2010 FIFA World Cup which was followed by a global depression or depressed growth. It

Pierre Sanson

Editor

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2015 2