Cranes and Lifting has, over the last few months, cast its eye on Asia’s emerging markets. And now that we’ve uncovered some of the challenges and differences in business operations and culture in the region, we turn our attention some of the key projects that have been undertaken to date.
In the November issue of Cranes and Lifting, we spoke to Sharon Foong, general manager of Southeast Asia Terex’s aerial work platform division, who said there has been a shift in the way business is conducted in Asia, pointing to more interest in the rental market. Then, before 2016 came to a close, Cranes and Lifting caught up with James Barr, vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific Terex AWP about the region’s outlook and countries that are at the tipping point, i.e. the point where “mega projects” drive the need for productivity and efficiency together with an increased awareness and requirement for onsite safety, being supported by, in Terex’s case, an available aerial fleet.
He said Vietnam and Thailand are currently in that space, adding that the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar were countries to look out for (more on here).
Why the interest in emerging markets?
In January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the global economy, particularly emerging and developing markets, will pick up pace this and next year. The IMF projected global growth to be 3.4% in 2017 and 3.7% in 2018, up from the estimated growth of 3.1% in 2016. Growth in emerging and developing economies was much higher however, projected at 4.5% in 2017.
“The good news is Asia overall managed well the market surprises in 2016 and Asian financial markets were resilient for most of the year,” IMF deputy managing director Zhang Tao said in January.
“Following the results of the US election, there have been some capital outflows from Asia with exchange rates depreciating vis-à-vis the US dollar. Nevertheless, in general, Asian emerging market economies were less affected than those in other regions. And, Asian markets affected during the May 2013 taper tantrum have generally been more resilient this time around.
“Looking forward, Asia continues to lead global growth. We expect the economies in the region to grow above 5% both in 2017 and 2018, compared with around 3.5% for the world in the next two years.”
Now these emerging markets have, over recent years, suffered due to collapsing commodity prices, falling currencies, as well as capital outflows. But BMI Research says things are looking up and it expect these markets to begin their economic recovery, albeit a slow and painful one.
So which are Asia’s emerging markets? The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Markets has been capturing these markets since 1988. In September last year, it pointed to China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand as Asia’s emerging markets.
Cranes and Lifting will be covering many of these countries throughout the year – in May, Malaysia will be part of our Asia Pacific report – and to kick off the year, here’s a snapshot of some notable events in a few of these countries.
Thailand
Over in Land of Smiles, Spanish flat top and luffing jib cranes manufacturer Linden Comansa wrapped up a project at the end of 2015 that led to the erection of Thailand’s tallest skyscraper.
Two tower cranes worked on the MahaNakhon tower in the bustling city of Bangkok, building the 314-metre tall skyscraper.
A luffing jib LCL310 24t crane was located at the base of the tower since 2012. With a maximum load of 24 tonnes and a freestanding height of 40.4 metres, its first duty was the construction of the MahaNakhon CUBE, a seven-story luxury retail centre in the same area of the MahaNakhon tower which opened in 2014. Following that, its work consisted of unloading all construction materials that arrived at the jobsite, arranging and distributing them on the ground, as well as lifting them up to the first floors of the tower. Thanks to its 60m-long luffing jib, its short counter jib, and its high load capacity, the LCL310 24t worked quickly and efficiently preparing all the materials that had to be lifted to the top of the building.
Meanwhile, the flat top 18t 21LC290 crane with its 40m jib and maximum load of 18t sat atop the tower.
Initially, the crane was erected on fixing angles with a freestanding height of 60.7m. As the tower gained height, the 21LC290 18t followed suit using Linden Comansa’s internal climbing system, which was tied to the structure of the building. This internal climbing system climbed the crane quickly and safely while maintaining two ties to the structure. It also offered cost savings by only requiring 11 mast sections, compared to an external crane that would have needed more than 60 mast sections to reach the height of 340m.
The Philippines
In the Philippines, contractor EEI has started work on a residential development within the new Bayside City Resort in Manila and turned to Manitowoc for its Potain cranes.
EEI selected four Potain cranes to help with construction – three top-slewing MC 205 B units and one MCR 225 A luffing jib crane. The cranes arrived in February last year and will be on site for about two years constructing eight new buildings and a six-story parking garage.
Potain’s MC 205 B is a 10t capacity tower crane that can work with up to 60m of jib and has been fitted with this full complement for the Bayshore job. Its jib end capacity is 2.4t and it can achieve line speeds approaching 88m per minute, and can be used in either two-fall or four-fall reeving with up to 500m of rope capacity available on the 55 RCS 25 winches that EEI Corporation has selected on its MC 205 B units.
The MCR 225 A has a maximum capacity of 14t, while its maximum available jib is 55m. It is also working with this maximum for the Bayshore project. Capacity at the 55m tip length is 2.15t and it can be equipped with either a 75 LVF 35 Optima winch or a 100 LVF 35 Optima winch, and the hoist can reach speeds of up to 140m per minute.
India
It is not all about constructing big fancy resorts and buildings. Over in India, one crane rental company is capturing opportunities in growing sectors such as renewable energy.
In February, JNK Lifters purchased Liebherr’s LTM1250-5.1 250t mobile crane, which has a 36m folding jib and a 46m fixed lattice jib.
JNK said the machine will be used for tower crane assembly, maintenance work in the petrochemicals sector, construction of underground railways, and support work for wind turbine installations.
The company pointed to the LTM 1250.51’s versatility and “enormous lifting capacity” as the reason why it was selected, saying typically, jobs in the steel fabrication and petrochemicals sectors used cranes in the 300t class. However, Liebherr innovations such as VarioBase, VarioBallast and ECOmode made this mobile crane a suitable choice, which JNK said provided the company with a competitive edge.
This article was originally published in the March issue of Cranes and Lifting.
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