Heavy trailer demand in Eastern Europe increased 32.1% in 2010 over the 2009 level, despite declines in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia, according to consulting group CLEAR.
It was encouraging news, given the dramatic drop of 65% in 2009, when the demand for new trailers returned to the level of 2002.
But the drop was so drastic that it will take until 2014 to recover to the level of new trailer demand last seen in 2006, which was a little short of 90,000 units.
Unlike Western Europe, however, the drop in demand will not lead to a fall in the size of the trailer parc (fleet), which even in 2009 was estimated to have grown by 3%.
“What is interesting is that trailer demand in the countries of Eastern Europe will recover at different rates – some moving back onto a high growth path quite quickly,” said Gary Beecroft, managing director of CLEAR. “Others experienced such rapid growth from 2002 to 2007 that they now have nearly enough trailers to meet their countries’ transport needs. In these cases, trailer demand will never return to the levels seen in 2006 and 2007.”
The East European Trailer Market Report (December 2010), with forecasts to 2014, can be obtained from CLEAR at http://www.clear.talktalk.net/.