Liebherr Mobile Harbour Cranes says that its annual deliveries in 2014 were greater than any manufacturer has ever delivered before: it supplied 112 units to six continents.
In 2014 Liebherr celebrated forty years since the delivery of the first Liebherr mobile harbour crane (LHM), Matthias Mungenast, Sales Director for Liebherr mobile harbour cranes said, “For a fantastic year like 2014 several factors have to come together. We started with a record order backlog into the year. Throughout the year demand for our state-of-the-art cargo handling solution was very stable on a high level. Moreover, large orders helped to significantly increase the population of Liebherr mobile harbour cranes. Finally, we broke the existing record by nearly 10%, which is amazing considering the economic environment.”
One highlight in 2014 was a large order from Algeria, Africa. A purchasing association of Algerian port operators opted for 20 Liebherr mobile harbour cranes. The mobile harbour cranes were delivered to seven destinations along the Algerian coast and work includes the handling of general cargo, dry bulk operation and container handling.
Liebherr supplied its first mobile harbour cranes to Algeria almost 20 years ago. This order nearly doubled the total number of LHM delivered to Algeria nearly to 43.
The most successful Liebherr LHM model of the year was the LHM 550. In 2014, 35 units were shipped to customers worldwide - five of these are portal solutions.
The LHM 280 also experienced a jump in demand in 2014, with 23 units sold to eight countries. This is more than double the sales in 2013 partly because this model was the preferred choice in the large Algerian order.
A geographical breakdown shows that Europe (including Russia) is again the main sales region for mobile harbour cranes. In total, 42 units were supplied to here, which is nearly 38% of all deliveries in 2014. Second is the African market, where 33 units (almost 30%) started operation last year- the annual number of units supplied to Africa is three times larger than in 2013.
Customers in Latin America took 14 units in 2014, nearly 13% of all sales, the same amount as Asia. Further deliveries to the Middle East, North America and Oceania completed the sales.
The strong expansion in iron ore, coal and other major bulks drove seaborne trade, which grew an estimated 4.2% in 2014. The importance of bulk handling as an application is reflected by the fact that almost two thirds of all 2014 mobile harbour crane deliveries are used for bulk operation, either bulk only or in combination with container and general cargo handling.
Strong growth of 5.3% is forecasted for 2015 in terms of world merchandise trade, which is a positive signal for shipping. The LHM order backlog for 2015 is in line with this positive forecast and is one of the highest ever. Liebherr says that throughout the world, the demand for Liebherr mobile harbour cranes and their innovative features is at a very high level. For that reason, Liebherr is optimistic that 2015 will be another successful year for its mobile harbour cranes.
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