WESTERN EUROPE | REGIONAL REPORT
European markets; only the UK is possibly slower than the rest,” says Dlugi. For SWF Krantechnik, however, the
picture is different. “Covid has set back recovery in Western
Europe,” says sales director Gerald Körner. “Due to differences in the breadth and timing of national restrictions the economic performances have varied. Demand from Germany was rather restrained. Italy’s unstable political situation created uncertainty and made buyers reluctant, and Spain and Portugal performed better than expected.,” adds Körner. There’s no doubt, though, that customers
have postponed projects because of the pandemic and fewer projects mean increased competition and a downward push on prices. The pandemic pressure has been felt in
other ways too, says Körner. “There have been disruptions in the
supply chain throughout the pandemic. Fuel price pressures and a shortage of
containers, which has reduced the ocean shipping capacity, are all big challenges to be solved,” he says. On the plus side, Körner adds, although
many customers have been hit harder by the second Covid wave, most are at least better prepared than in the first wave. The Covid pandemic continues to grab the headlines, and no doubt will for a long time to come, but Dietmar Nussbaumer, head of technical sales at Kuenz, says there have been other factors at play too. “It is not only the pandemic that has changed the market or made the effects very difficult to assess,” he says. “Trade obstacles such as duties, Brexit and other political uncertainties are also slowing down the free movement of goods.” Riese also says that since the UK left the
EU on January 1, 2021, there has been a noticeable impact on trade, partly because UK customers built stocks last year and the uncertainty as new customs requirements bed in. He does, however, expect trading to
return to normal later this year. Liftket has also noted the UK market
slowing. “The UK is clearly struggling due to Brexit and customers are moving to Ireland or increasing production at their sites outside the UK,” says Dlugi. The experience of different customer
sectors varies too. The aeronautics, automotive and entertainment industries are pretty much at a standstill but Kuli says the construction sector has been largely immune to the pandemic. “The building sector is still a growing
market all over Europe,” says Riese. The trend towards prefabrication and
preassembly, coupled with the building boom in some countries, has resulted in a “remarkable” increase in demand. “There is demand for higher capacities – 25 tons and up to 50 tons, and in single cases even more,” says Riese. Prior to the pandemic there was a
well-established trend towards greater digitalisation, smart products and energy
R The recently installed Kuli crane at Luxport in Luxembourg features a special crab with a 4m hook distance, allowing rotation during loading and unloading of long steel parts that often exceed 30m
26 | May 2021 |
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