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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
APRIL 2017
20
USED EQUIPMENT
E
quipment can be one of the
largest investments mining and
construction
companies
make
on their operations. With today’s
tighter budgets, mostly companies with
little or no capital outlay resort to used gear
for their heavy equipment needs. On the
back of challenging economic conditions in
many African countries at this stage, many
resort to used equipment as the immediate
cost effective option. In South Africa, for
example, the growing population of smaller
construction contractors also translates into
a big uptake of used equipment for a simple
reason that these upcoming contractors lack
the financial muscle to invest in new gear to
service their few and far between contracts.
While buying used equipment has its
fair share of advantages, Africa’s used
heavy machinery hasn’t always had a great
reputation at large. Franco Invernizzi, senior
director for Africa and Middle East at CASE
Construction Equipment, says Africa is one
of the markets with the biggest number
of used machines globally. “When I say
used I don’t mean five to seven-year old
machines. In Africa you can get a 20-year
old excavator or even a 25-year old grader
still working on site,” says Invernizzi.
This view is shared by Colin McOwen,
owner and director of CTC Plant Company,
a leading South African earthmoving plant
supplier which specialises in used gear,
who says the hours of machines are a lot
higher than they used to be, which means
that companies are extending the life of
the machines.
Paul Williamson, sales director Africa
at Iron Planet, a leading global online
auctioneer of used equipment, is also of the
view that, while the outlook of the African
used equipment market is looking up, the
continent’s used heavy machinery hasn’t
always had a good reputation, widely
renowned as being a “graveyard of used
equipment”. He says that African countries
are often the last stop of machines beyond
their cost effective lifecycles. “They would
fail to be sold on because they were often
in a poorly maintained condition,” says
Williamson.
SIDESTEPPING USED EQUIPMENT
PITFALLS
That Africa is a big used equipment marketplace is irrefutable, but what is
worrying is that it doesn’t have the greatest of reputations, and is often referred
to as the ‘graveyard of used equipment’. Despite the economic advantages of
buying used, some fear the money-saving option’s risks may far outweigh the
rewards. But, with a little extra effort on a buyer’s part, the most common used-
equipment buying pitfalls can be avoided, writes
Munesu Shoko
.
Suppliers report that demand for used
heavy equipment in Africa has grown
exponentially in recent years.