January 27 - Port Tampa Bay has received two huge shipments of heavy equipment from Chile and Peru, which are to be sold at the Ritchie Bros auction in Orlando, Florida from February 15-19.
The five-day event, which Ritchie Bros says will be the "biggest auction of 2016", has already attracted over 7,000 items of equipment and trucks from more than 600 sellers. Last year, the event attracted more than 9,350 bidders from 81 countries to bid on over 10,500 items.
Amongst other vehicles, the items on sale will include a selection of Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, John Deere International, Freightliner, and Terex equipment.
Although the majority of the equipment will be stored at Ritchie Bros' site in Davenport for the auction event, equipment that does not comply with US environmental agency regulations and cannot be used in the USA will be stored at Port Tampa Bay's foreign trade zone (FTZ), sold by photo at the Ritchie Bros auction and then likely re-exported by the new owner overseas.
Port Tampa Bay says that this is a great opportunity to utilise its FTZ to help support business development efforts and ongoing moves towards diversification. The US gateway added that this new business also highlights the port's capabilities in handling ro-ro cargo - one of its targeted areas for growth and diversification.
