P U B L I C I D A D E

ABRIR
FECHAR

P U B L I C I D A D E

ABRIR
FECHAR
Voltar

A rooted tradition

The category of 21 t keeps its importance responding by approximately 50 percent of the market,with possibilities of increasing its share inan eventual reheating during the next years

In a scenario of growing selectivity in fleet renewal, some factors are being determinant for the national market of crawler excavators, especially when selecting the type and size of these machines, which are fundamental for construction works.

Among the most important factors taken into account by the buyers, we may highlight questions directly related to the delicate economic moment that the country is going through, as well as the need to select models which are more versatile and technical features that better fit the demands of projects and applications.

Equipment size, for example, is an item that practically determinates its intended application.Regional sales manager of LBX do Brasil, Gustavo Totina confirms that 21 t—which actually may vary between 21 and 23 t—is still the medium-size category most used in Brazilian market, seen as a kind of jack of all trades.“In spite of the changes that we are going through, our market has not the culture of using the right model for each type of work to be carried out”,says him.

But—according to Totina—there are good reasons for this. After all, buyers found in the 21-ton category a multi-task product able to attend most field demands, without compromising too much the transport.“However, countries with more advanced technologies offer several sizes, configurations and work tools that are not well-known in Brazil”, emphasizes the executive.

Nonetheless—says him—with the progressof technologic modernization and the increasing demands of the works, a long-term fitting will be unavoidable. In this sense, one of the arguments listed by the representative of LBX in Brazilis that “when using the right equipment for each type of work a better performance is obtained and the time of accomplishment and the quality of work are improved”.

Still according toTotina, LBX do Brasilbrings to Brazil the practices of North American market where the use of the right equipment for each job is cultural and even a requirement. “With the improvement of the Brazilian market, this change of culture in relation to sizes and applications of equipment will be natural”, points out him.

Such opinion is confirmed by Rafael Ricciardi, product marketing expert for Latin America from New Holland Construction. According to him, there is already a trend of migration to sizes above and below the usual 21 t: “In large projects such as dam construction, road duplication, quarries and mining, performance and cost-benefit rate of large-size excavators are being more and more appreciated”, says him.“On the other hand, smaller excavators are increasing their space in the rental market since they ensure an easier logistics of transport and a better performance in works with space limitations.”

CONVENTIONAL

Before reaching this status, however, a real tradition will have to be tested. This is suggested byRicciardiwhen explaining that since the 70s (when the use of hydraulic excavators became popular in Brazil) a strong migration to machines of 21 t—which would occupy themost important range of use along the next years and decades—occurred. According to him, this market share reached more than 65 percent due to factors such as“purchasing, operation and productivity costs”.“In 1973, formerFiatAllis(that would become New Holland)was the brand responsible by making available in the country the first locally-produced hydraulic excavator”, pointsRicciardi, talking about the model S90 whose operating weight was 17 t.Forty years later, with the exponential increase of the national demand of excavators that occurred between 2010 and 2013, “part of the demand migrated to heavier machines, between 23 and 25 t, easy to be bought during those years”.

This scenario was changed in the last two years. The expert points out that—in the opposite way—the substantial reduction of demand leaded to a migration to smaller machines, in the range between 13 t and 17 t, whose purchasing cost was lower. “But the 21t range still keeps its importance since it includes about 50 percent of the market and may increase its share in a possible heating of the economy during the next years”, points him.