EUROPLATFORM
36
access
INTERNATIONAL
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013
Turkey offers enormous
potential for powered
access, although growth
is being constrained by
the heavy use of low-cost
alternatives, such as
personnel baskets with
knuckle boom cranes and
scaffolding.
AI
reports.
Other speakers included Pierre Boels of
Boels Rental, Søren Rosenkrands of Riwal,
Michael Rohmeder of Ritchie Bros. and
Murray Pollok of KHL Group.
Mr Boels revealed that he had visited
Turkey five years ago and had planned to
enter the market until growth opportunities
elsewhere, including Italy, had led the
company to postpone its move.
and scissors. “There are tens of companies
making such cranes in Turkey – it is very easy
for rental companies to buy them.”Turkish
import regulations also largely prevent the
import of used machines, providing a barrier
to entry for large rental companies in Europe.
Demand boost
Serkan Acar, general manager of Acarlar
Makine, a major access equipment rental
company and dealer in Turkey, told
delegates that economic growth and major
infrastructure projects would help boost the
demand for powered access.
He said the current access rental fleet of
around 2800 machines could increase annually
by 20-25%, doubling by 2016, reaching more
than 9000 units by 2018. Mr Acar added that
new health and safety regulations would also
help promote the use of powered access.
Speaking later in the panel discussion,
Merve Yerdelen Ellialtioglu, general manager
of Tatmak & Karyer, a Turkish equipment
dealer and JLG distributor, agreed that
Turkey represented a growth opportunity
but said expectations of a very rapid rental
fleet expansion should be treated with some
caution. She said her company had seen earlier
ambitious projections for the industrial forklift
market fail to fully materialise.
Taking off
Andy Studdert describes NES Rentals’
home working policy.
Michael Rohmeder of Ritchie Bros. spoke
about implications of Tier IV/Stage 3 engines.
H
ot topics at the annual one-day
Europlatform conference - organised
by IPAF and
Access International,
and
attended by 120 delegates at the historic
Pera Palace hotel in Istanbul - included the
management of big booms and a call for better
guidelines for working outside the basket.
The conference was told that Turkey’s
buoyant economy and a large number of
massive projects – including a third Istanbul
airport and a new bridge over the Bosphorus
river – meant that the demand for access
equipment would rise significantly in the
coming years.
Mustafa Bilgin, chairman of Istanbul
Vinc, one of the largest crane and access
rental companies in Turkey, said the fact that
Europlatform was taking place in Istanbul
was “an indication that the access industry is
starting to take off in Turkey.”
He said there was growing demand for
modern powered access but the common use
of lower cost solutions such as crane baskets
was hampering the introduction of booms
