3 questions with Ritchie Bros.’ Doug Olive

Although many aggregate producers tightened up their spending this year, equipment transactions continue to take place in and around the industry – both in the United States and around the world.

In the case of Ritchie Bros. and its IronPlanet online marketplace, the economic downturn has not slowed activity. In fact, Ritchie Bros. says the marketplace is experiencing its busiest summer to date.

Nearly 8,700 items were sold through IronPlanet in July, Ritchie Bros. says, and the company sold more than $1 billion in items through its various marketplaces during a 12-month period ranging from August 2019 through this July.

“The ease and comfort of buying and selling online has grown exponentially over the last several months,” says Ann Fandozzi, CEO of Ritchie Bros. “Sellers need to reach buyers beyond their local market to maximize results, and buyers are willing to go the extra mile in search of a deal.”

In addition, Ritchie Bros. sold more than 308,000 items in the first half of 2020 across all of its platforms, the company says, with buyers from 140 countries around the world. Doug Olive, senior vice president of pricing and valuations at Ritchie Bros., connected with P&Q to offer some exclusive perspective on the purchasing activity his company is currently seeing and what Ritchie Bros.’ expectations are for transactions in the months to come.

P&Q: How would you characterize the level of equipment buying activity you’ve seen this year? Is it meeting the expectations you had coming into 2020?

Olive: Overall, we have seen great demand and solid pricing in 2020 across most equipment categories. It’s obviously been a very different year because of COVID-19, but we have been able to quickly adapt with online-only auctions and have seen bidder registrations increase 49 percent in the first half of the year.

P&Q: Is there an increased interest this year in used equipment? If this is the case, what’s drawing aggregate producers and others more to used equipment?

Olive: Our most recent Fort Worth, (Texas), auction in July saw bidder registrations jump 108 percent year over year, so yes, we are definitely seeing strong demand in the market for good-quality, late-model, well-maintained equipment. In regard to aggregate equipment, we are seeing significant price increases for conveyors, jaw crushers and cone crushers in 2020.

P&Q: What are your expectations for buying for the rest of the year? How about for 2021?

Olive: We expect sustained demand, under current conditions. We are also situated well to be able to pivot, as we have in the past, with demand or should there be any further or secondary influence from COVID-19. Our many methods of selling and platforms enable us to be able to be flexible to buyer or seller needs.