Firms select hire gear during economic recovery

Qatar's crane rental market has seen an upswing since 2007. Photo by Liebherr.

Qatari heavy plant specialists United Equipment Group says it has seen a marked increase in the number of firms opting for hire equipment over new machinery.

UEG, Qatar’s sole Liebherr tower crane dealer, keeps a stock of around 40 new cranes on its books, but it’s the hire fleet of 30 additional cranes that has kept the company during the global economic downturn.

Company managing director , Samir Al Mughanni, said, “We recognised that contractors did not want to purchase new cranes in uncertain times thereby reducing a risk factor - we were, however prepared to take this risk and enter the rental market."

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"In order to meet the boom years of 2006 and 2007 in the local market, everyone started to turn to Chinese manufacturers with lower prices and faster deliveries. Since then, following the downturn, everyone is beginning to look for quality, reliability and good back up services,” Samir said.

"Up to the cutbacks we had been unable to develop a clear strategy for future growth. Already it is much calmer and clearly beneficial. And as Government projects in the Ports, Petrochemical and gas related industries go ahead, it will generate confidence in the private sector, leading to a clear pick-up by 2011 - but the days of the past booms, with mega demand for equipment are clearly past."