Resale 2009: good results, but inferior than 2008

For three days, visitors from all over the world frequented the stands of the 514 exhibitors at Resale 2009 in Karlsruhe. According the organizers, with 9,187 visitors from 112 countries, the attendance fell just short of last year’s outstanding level. The serious economic difficulties in a number of the eastern European countries that traditionally provide large numbers of visitors have left their mark. Noticeably fewer business people attended from the Ukraine than in recent years, for example. However, considering the turbulence in global markets, the number of visitors at the event is a good result. Approx. 65 percent of buyers travelled to the event from abroad. Nearly 70 percent have either purchased machines already or will order them after the trade fair. Exhibitors’ expectations were surpassed in every sector. The exhibiting companies reported doing good business and making highly qualified contacts. Many companies are expecting significant deals after Resale.
“The used machinery sector is a stabilising factor in the dramatic setting of a shrinking economy,” is the analysis of Jens Nagel, managing director of the federation of the German export trade (Bdex) in Berlin. “While businesses are struggling elsewhere, demand in the used machinery market is the same as usual.” Nagel adds that Resale 2009 was a lively trade fair and notes the buzz of activity in the exhibition halls. “There was a strong demand for information, especially regarding the options for alternative sources of financing,” he says referring to the fact that money is in shorter supply due to the difficulties in obtaining bank financing. In any case, the demand for used machines is still there: At the Bdex stand, there was noticeable demand from West Africa, Central Asia and the Near and Middle East. “From the last of these in particular, there are a lot of buyers searching for equipment for developing infrastructure,” reports Nagel. “For example, there are a large number of projects in Northern Iraq“.