UAE-based Salim Equipment Rental and Japan-based Daikyo Kenki, are expanding their rental business in the Middle East with continued investment in lift cranes and duty cycle cranes. The two companies entered into a joint venture in 2015 to offer cranes for hire along with operators. Currently, their JV rental fleet includes 7 crawler cranes with capacities ranging from 50t to 250t. Salim Equipment Rental already has its own fleet of crawler cranes which it runs independently from this JV. Also, Salim Equipment Rental are the authorized dealers of Kato crawler cranes from 50 – 250 ton capacity for the UAE region.
In 2019, Salim Equipment Rental decided to enter the niche market of duty cycle operation and dynamic compaction, a technique used to increase soil density by dropping a heavy weight repeatedly from different heights on the ground. As such projects required duty cycle cranes, Salim Equipment Rental opted for Liebherr and invested in two new HS8130.1 (130ton) cranes in February 2020. Currently, the two HS8130.1 (130 ton) models are working on the National Infrastructure project in UAE.
Sajil Salim, President and CEO, Salim Equipment Rental, says: “Some ground improvement and land reclamation projects require specialised, duty cycle cranes to do Dynamic Compaction and Dynamic Replacement. With Liebherr duty cycle cranes, we can improve the density and bearing capacity of the soil up to depths of 15m by these techniques, and the cranes can handle a high number of blows, typically 600 blows in a 10-hour shift. Only a few manufacturers make such cranes, and Liebherr was our first choice because the company has set the industry benchmark with regard to product development and customer support.”
The immediate success in the dynamic compaction market due to high utilisation of the cranes during 2020 encouraged Salim Equipment Rental to place its second order in November 2020 for another two duty cycle cranes with higher lifting capacities. The two new Liebherr HS895 HD (200 ton) models were delivered to Salim Equipment Rental in February 2021 at a handover ceremony inaugurated by Sekiguchi Noboru, Consul General of Japan in Dubai.
The two Liebherr HS895 HD (200 ton) duty cycle cranes at the Salim Equipment Rental yard in Dubai.
The handover function held and organized at the premises of Salim Equipment Rental in Dubai was also attended by several dignitaries, senior officials and representatives from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Dubai, Japan Bank (DIFC), Daikyo Kenki, Liebherr Middle East and Liebherr Austria.
Kurt Rudigier, area sales manager, crawler cranes and foundation equipment, Liebherr-Werk Nenzing, says: “Duty cycle crawler cranes are among Liebherr’s best-selling equipment in the Middle East, and we’ve sold over 200 such cranes in this region. This deal is special because Salim Equipment Rental placed the order for their first two duty-cycle cranes last year during one of the most challenging market conditions in recent years, when business owners were dealing with uncertainty. Despite the circumstances, Salim Equipment Rental went ahead with the deal, and we delivered the machines in August 2020. Following the second order, Liebherr manufactured the cranes in Austria and delivered them within three months. We celebrate this success story during the pandemic and the valuable partner we found in Salim Equipment Rental.”
Sajil adds: “Our investments in four duty cycle cranes in less than a year is a major step for us and an unusual move in our industry because they happened at the peak of the pandemic. Fortunately, the dynamic compaction market was resilient during the last year, and we expect our four duty cycle cranes to be busy on soil improvement sites and duty cycle jobs throughout 2021. We see opportunity for significant growth in the next few years from ground improvement and duty cycle jobs related to infrastructure projects in the MENA region.
Dynamic compaction is a ‘high demand – high risk’ market that requires the full dedication of our resources including a team of highly skilled operators, maintenance staff and Liebherr’s after-sales support. As there are few players with the technical competency required for such jobs, we also have the opportunity to expand globally.”
A partnership built on trust
Ryuichi Uchida, President and CEO, Daikyo Kenki; Sekiguchi Noboru, Consul General of Japan in Dubai; and
Sajil Salim, President and CEO, Salim Equipment Rental.
Salim Equipment Rental (previously a part of AAA Rentals) was launched as a trading company in 1980 by the parents of Sajil Salim, Col. Salim Ahmed Nasir (Retd.) and Mrs. Nahid Salim, where they dedicated themselves with exceptional service to exceed client expectations in supplying more than 1000 units of pre-owned Tadano and Kato cranes in the MENA Region. The company then expanded into the rental market in 2006 with a fleet of lift cranes supplied and serviced from its office, workshop and yard in Dubai.
Daikyo, established in 1965, is among the top five heavy equipment rental companies in Japan with a fleet of 120 machines including cranes and trucks. Two decades ago, Daikyo diversified into real estate, which has become a growth area for the company. However, crane rental remains Daikyo’s primary business activity which it drives with a fleet of 13–700t machines and over 100 operators.
Sajil Salim explains how the business relationship with Daikyo Kenki evolved over the years culminating in their joint venture: “Salim Equipment Rental is built on the four principles of quality, commitment, integrity and professionalism. At our core, we are a Japanese company with similar work ethic as that of Daikyo Kenki. It’s interesting how we entered into a formal partnership after several years of business dealings. In the 1980s, my parents were among the top shippers of American cranes from UAE to America. In the 1990’s, my father was instrumental in introducing and driving the demand for Japanese crane brands in the Middle East, which had been dominated by American brands. The joint venture was a natural progression for both Salim Equipment Rental and Daikyo Kenki, but it happened only after a decade-long process of winning each other’s trust in 2015, a characteristic highly valued by Japanese companies.”
Ryuichi Uchida, President and CEO, Daikyo Kenki, adds: “Having established ourselves in the crane rental business in Japan, we had aspirations to expand globally. In 2005, I began exploring opportunities in the Middle East to establish a trading business, which led to my UAE visit and introduction to Sajil and his father. I was very impressed with their commitment to the crane industry and understanding of the local market that I entered into a trading partnership with them in 2005. Within ten years, our successful business relationship evolved into our crane rental joint venture.”
Operating in both the ownership and rental markets has helped Daikyo Kenki create a sustainable fleet replacement system and improve inventory management.
“Since the 1990s, we have also been active in crane sales in local and international markets, and so far, we have sold more than 1,000 cranes around the world. By offering cranes for sale and hire, we are able to find markets for our used cranes while being able to upgrade our fleet with new machines. Expanding our rental inventory in the UAE gives us the confidence to enter new markets in the Middle East and Africa. Furthermore, as we expand our international presence through partnerships and subsidiary offices in India and Indonesia, we will have more flexibility in managing our inventory to cater to projects in Asia and Africa,” says Ryuichi.
