Latin America is large and diverse. As Julian Champkin discovers, its market for lifting gear is recovering from the pandemic.

Each country in Central and South America is different,” says Juan Jose Padilla, international sales manager for Harrington Hoists

A 16t hoist from Stahl, part of Columbus McKinnon

A Harrington Hoists factory installation.
Jaso overhead crane

A Jaso double-beam gantry crane at work

Harrington Hoists has a large presence in Latin America

“Each has its own regulations, economies and rules; and although it is a convenient term, in reality Latin America cannot be defined as just one big common region.”

Thus, Mexico’s international trade, he says, is dominated mostly by manufacturing. “It participated in the recently signed USMCA (US-Mexico- Canada agreement) and sends its manufactured goods to the US and Canada. Chile on the other hand is more of a mining-based economy. The upper Central American triangle is agricultural rather than industrial, and the “northern” South American countries such as Ecuador, Peru and Colombia are a mix of both mining and industrial economies. Panama relies heavily on the Panama Canal and Free Trade transport while Costa Rica relies heavily in tourism, some mining and very light manufacturing.”

Pere Garcia, director general of GH Cranes Mexico, also finds the Mexican market differs significantly from the others.

“Since the change of Government in 2019 in Mexico, the economy of the country has gone down. Government investment in industry has decreased and large public projects were stopped. Foreign investment has decreased or simply disappeared. 2020 seemed to get off to a better start, but in March came Covid-19.

“The rest of the year was very difficult. Our sales were affected. Important sectors like construction and energy were really damaged. The automotive sector also suffered, but not as badly since most autopart fabrication in Mexico is for export to the US.”

“Countries in Latin America have been evolving at different rates,” says Karsten Hönack, STAHL CraneSystems regional sales manager for Latin America. “The development of free trade agreements has been positive for the region. One is the latest ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’, which is expected to provide greater stability on the west coast of South America. Stahl is a Columbus McKinnon brand, and the partnership has been benefitting from such agreements. “For example, we completed a project in Columbia in mines up to 4,000 meters above sea level.”

The various countries are also influenced by the key vertical markets that drive their economies, says Oseir Garcia Andrade, Latin America marketing manager of Columbus McKinnon. “In Mexico, automotive plays a key role, as do oil and gas. Peru and Chile are highly dependent on mining. In Colombia, power generation is a key vertical market while Argentina is highly dependent on chemical processing.”

Yosu Ezpeleta, commercial director of GH Cranes for the Andes region, agrees: “Peru and Colombia are countries that are very different from each other. In Peru, industry is highly centralised in Lima and essentially involves mining. Larger capacity cranes are therefore needed.

Colombia is more complex because the industry is more diverse and is spread over different cities – Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla are the main ones – and the cranes in general are of low capacity.

In Ecuador, we are involved in mining and cement projects, and also, through our distributor, on the new Quito Metro, both in the civil works and in the train workshop yard. And in Bolivia we are working through distributors in the energy, cement and sugar processing sectors.”

So Latin America as a term is a bit of a catch-all. It does though have historical and cultural meaning: past links with Portugal and Spain still have their influence today, as Ezpeleta points out: “The South American market is very attractive for us: the cultural affinity with the Andean countries makes us, as a Spanish company, feel at home.

That’s why GH is committed to increasing its presence with its own subsidiaries in Peru, Colombia and Brazil, and distributors in Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile.”

Latin America market for lifting gear is recovering from the pandemic