Ritchie Bros.’ August Market Trends Report is now available—subscribe & download today! This month’s report focuses on large and small excavator sales in the U.S. and Canada. Let’s start digging through the data.
Overall, excavator auction volumes are down year over year, particularly in the United States, as new production is slow, companies are busy, and so is their equipment. In the first half of 2022, we sold approximately 33% fewer large excavators in the U.S. compared to same time period in 2021. Meanwhile, Canadian large excavator volumes have been fairly steady—only declining 5% in 2022 vs. 2021. Mini excavators are a completely different story, with volumes up approximately 4% in the U.S. and down 75% in Canada.
Now, let’s take a closer look at how these trends have been impacting pricing.
What’s happening with excavator pricing in the U.S.?
Currently median prices for large excavators in the United States are down 9% year over year, with units sold being approximately two-years older than units sold in 2021.
However, when we look specifically at Caterpillar and John Deere excavator sales sold over the past 90 days, we see slightly better numbers, with median prices down 7% and 6% year over year. While Komatsu excavators, the third most-common brand sold recently, declined in pricing by approximately 23%, with units that were approximately six years older than units sold in 2021. The mix of age and usage definitely impacts pricing.
Looking at mini excavator sales in the U.S., the top brands sold at Ritchie Bros. are currently Bobcat, John Deere, and Caterpillar. Over the past 90 days, Bobcat prices have declined approximately 13%, with units sold having approximately 39% more hours than units sold in 2021. By contrast, John Deere mini excavator units sold over the past 90 days had 43% less usage and achieved 18% higher prices year over year as a result. Caterpillar mini excavator prices also increased recently—up 6% from 2021.
What about excavator prices in Canada?
The excavator story in Canada today is quite different than the United States. Overall, large excavator prices in Canada are up 12% year over year, with units that are newer and have less usage in 2022 vs. 2021. John Deere is currently the top-selling excavator brand up north, with prices up 18% year over year.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar excavator prices are down 10% in Canada, likely a result of units being three years older this year than units sold in 2021. Hitachi excavator prices are also down, approximately 3% year over year, with units sold in 2022 being one year older.
For mini excavators sold in Canada in 2022, we have seen a huge decline in volume and a big uptick in pricing. As of July 31, 2022, mini excavator prices are up 31% year over year in Canada.
Price indexes still up over last year
After our main feature outlining data from U.S. and Canadian excavator sales, we turn to our individual industry indexes. While all indexes show increased pricing over the same time last year, month over month changes are declining since peak pricing earlier this year.
In the United States, Ritchie Bros.’ mix-adjusted price indexes for the three months ending July 31, 2022, show that prices for used large and medium earthmoving categories are up by 12% and 15% respectively, from the same time last year. Aerial equipment is up 13%. Truck tractors still lead the way with a year-over-year price increase of 27%, while vocational trucks come in at +18%.
“We continue to experience year-over-year price inflation for equipment and trucks in the U.S. and Canada,” said Doug Olive, Senior Vice President, Pricing, Ritchie Bros. “However, as the transportation and logistics markets normalize, we have seen truck prices decline. We are seeing similar pricing trends across our other industry indexes as well, with year-over-year increases, but declining on a month-to-month basis.”
The price indexes in Canada showcase similar trends. Large and medium earthmoving equipment are up 12% and 13% respectively, while aerial is up 6%. Truck prices are slightly lower than in the U.S., with truck tractors up 25% and vocational trucks up 10% over last year.
But what about the retail market?
As with previous reports, we have included retail commentary and charts from Rouse Services. According to Rouse, tight volumes are also an issue in the retail space right now, with 27% fewer transactions in July 2022 vs. July 2021.
“Tight supply continues to be the story in the retail market, with lower-than-typical sales volumes driving strong pricing and retail values increasing 2% in July,” said Doug Rusch, Managing Director of Rouse Sales. “Excavators in particular have shown strong pricing, with retail values rising 4-5% in the past 90 days across all sizes classes. Auction values for excavators look to have peaked in June 2022. Since June, we have seen smaller class mini-excavator prices decline 6-7% percent at auction, while larger excavators have declined 2%.”