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IRC PREVIEW
IRNAPRIL-MAY 2015
Whatslowdown?
Conferencesponsors
of an impact, but Mr Saubot’s response reflects
the fact that rental is finally emerging as a distinct
business. Major projects involving big companies
like Disney and Samsung, plus the presence of
foreign contractors accustomed to using powered
access, are giving aerial platforms awelcome push.
The third International Rental Conference (IRC),
taking place in Beijing on 21 September, on the day
before the BICES exhibition, will reflect both the
growth of aerial platform rentals sector and the
evolution of the general rental market. Indeed, one
of the participants is from Haulotte – Tomie Chan,
general manager for Haulotte Asia, who will sit on
the round-table panel alongside access veteran
DesmondOng from Singapore.
The programme for the conference is now
complete, with headline speaker Chris Davies, CEO
of UK-basedHSSHire.
HSS Hire has reinvented itself over the past six
years, and in addition to its traditional strength
in tools and equipment is also now a major player
in the access and power rental sectors. Mr Davies
will discuss how rental is about customers and not
products.
Local expertise
The conference provides a mix of local and foreign
voices. Home grown speakers include Chunyu
Zhang, general manager of Shanghai Horizon
Equipment, and Ni Xinli, founder of Jiangsu
Tongyuan Machinery – two emerging rental
companies in China. Expertise from outside China
include the two seniormanagers of Brazil’s number
three rental business, A Geradora, while Vivek Soni
of Gemini Equipment and Gary Kucher of Mongolia
Holdings will report on the rental developments in
India andMongolia, respectively.
A recent addition to the line-up – the final speaker
– is Guy van der Knaap, managing director of NCS
Global, the rental software specialist. Mr van der
Knaap’s companyhasworkedwith rental companies
all over theworld, helping introducenew IT systems,
and he is in a great position to provide expert
advice to rental companies in Asia looking to learn
from theirmoreexperiencedcounterparts inEurope
andNorthAmerica.
So if you want to understand the rental trends in
wider Asia and China, and at the same time take in
one of the biggest construction exhibitions in the
region, then a visit to Beijing in September is well
advised.
IRN
If youwant to understand the dynamics of emerging rental
markets inChina andwider Asia, then visit the 3
rd
International
Rental Conference (IRC), inBeijing on21 September.
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IRC takesplace thedaybefore theBICESexhibition, whichwill run from22 to25
September. BICES is the Beijing construction show that alternates every year
withShanghai-basedBaumaChina.
The show is a showcase for all typesof constructionequipment, aswell as the smaller items that are so
popularwith rental companies, including lighting towers, pumps, generators and light compaction tools.
This year’s BICES takes placewith a backdrop of much lower demand for construction equipment than
the peak years of 2010 and 2011, whenunit sales inChinaweremore thandouble those of 2014.
Even so, China’s market, excluding cranes and aerial platforms, will be around 220,000 units in 2015,
making it still one of the biggestmarkets in theworld.
BICES has in its favour this year amove to a better equipped andmore favourably located venue, the
New Beijing International Exhibition Center, which is connected to central Beijing by subway and is only
7.5 km from theBeijing International Airport.
By the end of April the show organisers were reporting around 630 companies signed up to attend.
That’s smaller thanprevious shows, butwill stillmake it anenormousexhibition, andagreat place tovisit
if youwant to source Chinese-made products.
Event Details
WHAT:
International Rental Conference
WHEN:
Monday, 21 September, 2015
WHERE:
Swissôtel, Beijing
WEBSITE:
ORGANISERS:
KHL Group and International Rental News.
SUPPORTERS:
BICES, IPAF andChineseConstruction Industry
Association (CCIA)
Alexandre Saubot: ‘No slowdown in rental‘
A
t the recent Intermat exhibition, Alexandre
Saubot, Haulotte Group’s chief operating
officer, was asked about the impact of
China’s economic slowdown on its business.
“Honestly, no impact”, was his perhaps surprising
answer, although only surprising if you have not
been following thedevelopment of the rental sector
inChina.
While acknowledging China’s changing market
conditions, Mr Saubot said the low level of
penetration of aerial platforms and the emergence
of a new family of rental businesses was helping to
maintaingrowth in themarket.
That is one view, of course, and there are other
equipment sectors, such as earthmoving and
cranes, where the slowdown may be having more
Guy van der Knaap
Candido Terceiro
Chris Davies
Desmond Ong
