Paola DePascali visited Italian crane manufacturers to analyze how the construction market is evolving after the 2008 recession. All now are orientated to exports. This Cranes Today feature explore the manufacturing market, and features an exclusive interview with Eng. Domenico Ciano, Technical Director, Raimondi Cranes.

Excerpt from Ciano’s interview: 

“Over the last 50 years we manufactured 16,000 cranes and 6,000 of them have been erected in Italy. After a period of stagnation, we have seen some signs of recovery with a demand for engineering studies to install machines on the jobsites. Sales are still limited in the Italian market because there is high competition with the used crane market. In Italy we are mainly working with after sales service and spare parts.”

Ciano is currently working with the National Union of Companies for Construction Equipment and Attachments (UNACEA) to create a tower crane association to understand what they need to do to re-launch the sector. “I strongly believe that we should cooperate, making our common problems visible to the national and international institutions,” Ciano said. “One single voice can’t do anything. The value of forming an association is to establish all together some common regulations and to get involved with other international associations such as the FEM.” Next year, Raimondi is attending Conexpo for the first time thanks to the support of UNACEA.

Ciano said the Raimondi brand is going really well abroad: “There are over 10,000 jobsites globally with Raimondi Cranes on site. Last year we won a tender for the biggest jobsite in Europe, the Medical Centre in Ankara, Turkey and we have erected 38 tower cranes there. However, Raimondi Cranes recorded in 2015 its highest number of sales in Australia, followed by the Middle East, Europe and Turkey. “Combining France and Switzerland, 50 tower cranes were sold in 2015.

Our top selling models in France and Switzerland are the MRT223, the MRT294, and the MRT189. Three new Raimondi Cranes were recently sold to Germany, the models are the MRT189, the MRT294, and the MRT152.” Ciano added that the most popular machines are in the mid-high range from 10t upwards with 70% of units sold and in the smaller range from 8t downwards with 30%.

“In 2015 we sold 200 units to international markets, but we are aiming to achieve sales of 400 units. I can say that we are seeing a growth of 25% per year,” he said. “Now we are working for the JW Marriot Hotel in Qatar, employing four LR213s that stand at height of 250m. Two other LR213s have been sold in Canada, but we needed to modify the design of the electric system because the regulations are different there.” Raimondi also welcomed key members of the Ontario Formwork Association in Legnano last September. The Canadian delegation experienced hands-on demonstrations and presentations that focused on the company’s R&D progress, its client-servicing segment including bespoke detailing with extensive aftersales care, and its North American expansion plans. Massimiliano Volpe, deputy general manager for Raimondi, said: “We believe that the Canadian market could be a very good avenue to enter the United States and we are ready to work hard to achieve our objectives.”

Even though Raimondi’s ownership is not Italian anymore, Ciano said, the mission of the manufacturer is to make Raimondi grow in Italy. Ciano added: “We are currently looking into creating the Raimondi supreme lifting range, which could be addressed to the large production. We are about to acquire a new big factory in Legnano, because we aim to double our workforce in the next four years. Thus, we are working on several projects: a new luffing crane of 300tm, which will be launched by next year; a flat-top tower crane of 500tm targeted at the North American market, as well as some simple and easy to mount machines for the Italian and other European markets.

Read the full feature in Cranes Today