With its September Market Trends Report, Ritchie Bros. takes a deep dive into sales of oil and gas support equipment over the past 20 months (Jan. 2021 to Aug. 2022), including detailed charts breaking down volume, median asset age, and pricing for boom, vacuum, and bed trucks, as well as winch tractors, tanker trailers, frac tanks and more.

Unlike many of the other sectors the company operates in, volumes for oil and gas equipment sales have been steady in 2022. Pricing, however, is a different story, as the volumes sold per quarter fluctuate greatly and the variance in equipment specifications make it difficult to summarize pricing trends. For example, the volume of oil and gas assets sold in Q2 in Canada eclipses volumes of Q1 and Q3 combined, in most cases.

"We have decades of experience helping companies in oil and gas buy and sell equipment for their businesses and we want to continue to grow in this sector," said Doug Olive, senior vice president (pricing), Ritchie Bros.

"Traditionally Alberta and Texas have been our biggest markets and it's no coincidence that these are also hotbeds for the oil and gas sector. With our September Market Trends Report we drill down into the details so you can learn more about what's going on in the industry."

Individual industry indexes

While all indexes show increased pricing over the same time last year, month over month changes are declining since peak pricing earlier this year.

In the United States, Ritchie Bros.' mix-adjusted price indexes for the three months ending Aug. 31, 2022, show truck tractor prices are currently leading the pack, up approximately 18 percent compared to the same time period last year, but down 11 percent compared to the three months ending December 2021. Meanwhile, large and medium earthmoving prices are currently up 9 percent and 8 percent respectively compared to the same time period last year, however that is down 1 percent and 2 percent compared the three months ending December 2021.

Vocational trucks are up 9 percent YOY (down 5 percent since Dec. 2021) and aerial equipment is up 7 percent (down 5 percent since Dec. 2021).

With regards to the retail market, Doug Rusch, managing director of Rouse Sales, said, "As we have seen in the auction space, retail is also dealing with supply issues. However, retail volumes in August were bit stronger than recent months — only down 5 percent year over year vs. declines of 20 to 25 percent in previous months. At the same time, demand continues to be strong, resulting in retail values increasing for the 22nd straight month — up a further 2.3 percent in August."

For more information, visit rbassetsolutions.com/market-trends-report.