In the first week of November, Euro Auctions held a plant and agricultural machinery auction at its headquarters in Dromore, Co Tyrone. This sale attracted almost 600 visitors over the two days, with over 1,300 lots sold, resulting in a total hammer price of £3.6m (€4.2m).

At around 80% of the total turnout, Britain and Ireland attracted the highest proportion of bidders but buyers also came from right across Europe, Russia and as far away as Egypt and the Middle East. There were also bidders from as far afield as China, the US and Australia, who were among the 350 additional bidders that registered to participate in this auction online through the company’s website. This option is starting to prove more and more popular with bidders from outside Europe due to the logistics and cost of actually attending the sale. However, they sacrifice the opportunity of seeing the equipment firsthand, experience the buzz that a live auction generates and actually kick the tyres, which is still the by far the most popular option.

Almost 30% of the 450 successful bidders placed their bids online, with the majority of the machines remaining in Europe. The machines purchased by global buyers are now in the process of being prepared for shipping to the US, Asia and the Middle East.

The number of agricultural machines across all the Euro Auctions has been steadily increasing this year. A major attraction at the sale in Leeds earlier this year saw a consignment of more than 50 low-hour, 2013-15 registered T6 and T7 tractors direct from the New Holland dealer network, which achieved hammer prices between £39,000 (€46,000) and £49,000 (€57,700).

The same auction also saw several John Deere dealers enter more than 25 units which sold for an average of £35,000 (€41,000). Nearly all the agricultural equipment in this Dromore auction was consigned by UK- and Irish-based companies, more than 100 of whom were based in Britain, with a further 29 based in Ireland.

Jonnie Keys, general manager for Euro Auctions’ global activities, said: “There has always been a balanced selection of construction equipment at our auctions, but we are now also seeing an ever growing number of agricultural lots being consigned. While times remain tough, the underlying global agricultural sector is optimistic. Changes in exchange rates are already affecting new equipment prices and has made purchasing a used machine at auction an increasingly attractive prospect for many people.”

The next Euro Auctions sale at Dromore is on Friday 9 December, with additional lots being sold on the Saturday. Looking forward to 2017, there is a three-day sale in Leeds from 25 to 27 January; another scheduled for Dromore on 17 and 18 February, with others in the US, Australia, Germany and Spain also in the first quarter of the new year. For more information on these auctions, visit www.euroauctions.com