A new report by International Rental News (IRN) estimates that the Middle East equipment and machinery rental market reached $420 million in 2009.
According to IRN, exact numbers are difficult to quote as the best quality statistics are available for the worst performing markets, “while data on the world’s high growth markets is extremely hard to get”. However the World Rental Market report estimates global rentals to have reached $79 billion last year.
Data from the ARA (American Rental Association) revealed that the US remained the single biggest market at $27.5 billion but IRN said that figures for Brazil, Hong Kong or Saudi Arabia are “extremely hard to get”.
“The figures for markets including South America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific are very broad estimates for which there cannot be a high degree of confidence,” said the report.
“The Middle East market remains an attractive prospect for rental companies in Europe, although the rather severe crash in Dubai has yet to be reversed. Instead, the rental focus has shifted to other markets such as Qatar and, in particular, Saudi Arabia, where there are massive oil and gas and petrochemical investments planned, as well as major infrastructure projects.”
