Dairy prices continue to fall
The Global Dairy Auction suffered its sixth successive fall last night with the average price index dropping 4.3% to US $2,412/MT.
There was something for everyone: 30 tonne excavators, dump trucks, road rollers and pick-up trucks – plenty of big boys' toys for construction heavyweights and farming folk alike.
With the sun shining, 350 registered bidders took to the field and around 160 online bidders checked in from as far afield as Hong Kong, New York and Stockholm.
Ritchies' managing director Asia Pacific, Kieran Holm, debunked the idea that New Zealand is the home of high priced machinery. "This type of machinery is well priced in NZ, as evidenced with buyers from as far afield as Europe seeing value, despite the typically high freight costs in getting stuff home."
Ritchies set up in Canada in 1958 and is now the largest company of its type in the world: 2015 turnover was US$4.3 billion, of which US$1.5 was conducted online.
It has 44 permanent auction sites worldwide and runs about 350 auctions each year. Their scale is seen in a recent five-day event in Florida where sales were US$175 million.
Holm also commented "our business sees global liquidity as economies around the world rise and fall, and although we deal in big lumps of metal, with a little bit of thought and ingenuity they can be moved around the globe".
