January 29 - Liebherr reports that sales of mobile harbour cranes (LHM) have once more contributed strongly to its overall success in 2013.
The company reports that it delivered almost 80 mobile harbour cranes across the globe and achieved a turnover of EUR280 million.
In the last 12 months 12 units of the LHM600 model have been sold in the Latin American market. Three of these machines are Liebherr barge slewing (LBS) cranes, a combination of the mobile harbour crane concept and a fixed pedestal mounted on a barge.
In 2013, Liebherr launched its range of maritime crane simulators in order to increase port safety and productivity by providing a cost-effective and highly efficient crane driver training solution. Approved by training experts, the range of simulated cranes includes mobile harbour cranes, ship to shore, rubber tyre gantry and offshore cranes and Liebherr reports that it delivered several maritime crane simulators worldwide during the past year.
With regard to future sales, Liebherr says that whilst various tattered economies managed to recover in 2013, global growth is still slow and characterised by uncertainty. But it believes that the turning point in terms of world trade volume growth has been reached and the forecast for 2014 is even better.
In regards to geographical distribution, Europe (including Russia) is still the main region for Liebherr mobile harbour cranes accounting for more than 40 percent of annual deliveries. The African market was ranked second in 2013 with nearly 14 percent, showing a fall of 7 percent compared to its 2012 share. However, the order backlog for this region suggests that this is just a temporary downturn. Strong signals came from Australia (with 10 percent) and North America (7 percent), and compared to 2012 the market share in these regions tripled. In the Middle East, demand for LHMs rose significantly.
Liebherr concludes that the outlook for 2014 is good with its order backlog on a record level and much higher than in 2012 and it remains optimistic that the demand for mobile harbour cranes will remain very healthy.
