EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
BAUMA 2018
REVIEW
Hailed as the premier trade fair on the continent for construction
machinery, building material machines, mining machines, and
construction vehicles, bauma CONEXPO Africa 2018 held its third
edition in Johannesburg.
H
eld in Johannesburg between 13
and 16 March, the show attracted
delegations from afar afield as Chile,
Israel, Kenya and Turkey, with 13% of total
visitors coming from outside South Africa.
The top five African countries attending
were from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana,
Mozambique and Namibia.
“The trade fair reflected a sense of
renewed optimism and highlighted the
opportunities in the industry, despite
recent economic challenges,” states Stefan
Rummel, managing director of Messe
München, while Petra Kaiser, senior director
of International Exhibitions & Events at the
Association of Equipment Manufacturers
(AEM), adds: “It is significant to have a
consistent and engaged presence in the
region in order to take advantage of long-
term business potential. bauma CONEXPO
Africa 2018 creates a platform to help
facilitate these opportunities.”
Exhibitors experienced increased sales
of machinery and equipment over the four
days of the trade fair, as Rajen Garender,
marketing director at Weir Minerals,
points out: “bauma CONEXPO Africa is an
extremely well-organised and professional
trade event. It has been a successful
exhibition for Weir Minerals with several
promising sales opportunities in the works.”
Kivanc Eren, sales director at LiuGong
Machinery South Africa, adds: “For
LiuGong, this year’s bauma has not only
been a showcase of our new series of
products, but also the right venue to kick-
off the celebrations of LiuGong’s 60th year
anniversary.”
He adds: “LiuGong’s sub-Saharan
subsidiary, with a parts depot based in
Johannesburg, makes bauma rather more
local than an international event.”
During the show, LiuGong’s new
generation 950E Excavator and 856H Wheel
Loader were exhibited, alongside its new
generation 425 Grader, 614 Roller, skid steer
loader, and bestselling forklift range.
Naseera Barradeen, marketing manager
at Ever Star Industries, comments that a
highlight of the 2018 edition was the quality
of visitors attending: “bauma CONEXPO
Africa 2018 provided excellent networking
opportunities for Shantui, providing us with
good quality contacts. While a well-organised
opportunity, the number of visitors however
was lower than expected.” She adds
however: “Due to our success at this edition,
Shantui looks forward to exhibiting again in
2021.”
Despite the disappointing footfall, the
show featured exhibitors from across various
industry segments that were pleased with
All manner of equipment, big and small, put on a show for this year’s trade fair.
24
MAY 2018
By Kim Kemp
At the opening of bauma CONEXPO Africa
2018, the organisers voiced enthusiasm and
optimism for the third African edition of the
international trade fair.
the trade fair. “KAESER is very satisfied with
the results of this exhibition,” says Marco
Angermüller, manager product support at
KAESER Kompressoren. “The number of
visitors was limited, but the quality was great
for us. We could sign a lot of orders and
found many new customers, which will help
KAESER to grow further in Africa, especially
in South Africa.”
While 454 exhibitors from 34 countries
and apparently 14 167 visitors attended the
international trade fair, figures were not as
high as expected, with the organisers hoping
to reach the 20 000-visitor mark. Speaking
to many of the exhibitors, they reported a
lacklustre attendance, voicing the possible
reason being the flat construction sector,
with several big names debating whether
or not they would attend the next edition
in 2021, which will again take place in
Johannesburg.
Possibly by then, the dormant
construction sector would have risen out of
its slump and bauma CONEXPO Africa will
boom again. ■