Which are the fastest growing crane companies in the world?

Germany’s BKL was one of several companies that grew by more than 10 per cent in the 2024 IC100 ranking of the world’s largest crane-owning companies. Photo: BKL/Liebherr

The IC100 Index is a KHL top list produced annually for almost the last 30 years by International Cranes and Specialized Transport (ICST). It allows us to track the development of individual crane-owning companies as well as wider trends in the sector.

Here we focus on the ten fastest growing companies, as measured by the year-on-year increases in their IC Index published in June 2024. The IC Index figure is derived from the total combined maximum load moment rating in tonne-metres of all the cranes in a company’s fleet, giving a numerical measure of a company’s growth in terms of the lifting capability (not the nominal capacity) of its fleet. 

That way of measuring growth means the addition of even just one very big crane in a year can have a significant impact on a firm’s ranking in the list. In the case of the fastest growing company this year – Barkat Cranes & Equipment of India – adding some large cranes meant a doubling of its index between the survey dates of June 2023 and June 2024.

Here below are the 10 fastest growing companies as measured by changes in their IC Index, together with some contextual information:

Barkat Cranes & Equipment: +104% increase in IC Index

India’s Barkat Cranes has been investing heavily in its fleet on the back of continued national investment in infrastructure and renewables. That investment has included a big shift up in the size of its biggest crane, having added a 2,000 tonne capacity XCMG XLC30000 lattice boom crawler crane. (Its largest at the time of the 2023 IC100 survey was a 750 tonne capacity Sany SCC7500A.) It is lattice boom cranes where much of the investment has been focused, with an almost doubling in the size of that fleet year on year.

Marco Crane and Rigging: +57% increase

Marco Crane & Rigging saw impressive growth this year, reportedly due to fleet refreshment and purchasing higher capacity cranes for chip manufacturing jobs, which have proliferated in the southwestern USA. The company has seen particular growth in its fleet of lattice boom cranes, which now numbers 53. Its largest crane remains a 450 tonne capacity Grove GMK7550 all terrain.

Hareket: +55% increase

A big year of growth for the Turkish business. At the end of May it completed an IPO and its shares started trading on the Borsa İstanbul. Since then it has added a 2,200 tonne capacity Sany SCE22000A crawler crane to its fleet (delivered to Dubai), expanding upwards its heavy lift fleet from its previous largest, a Demag CC 6800 lattice boom crawler. Over the last year it agreed a joint venture in India and expanded its fleet of mobile and lattice boom cranes, almost doubling in the case of lattice boom models.

Lift Source Machinery: +46% increase

Lift Source Machinery is a major player in the rental and sale of mobile heavy lift cranes, and over the last few years, in the higher capacity realm. The company manages a growing fleet of cranes working on jobs across North America, and especially along the Gulf Coast region, near the company’s headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company competes in the refinery, oil and gas and energy power generation and transmission markets, as well as commercial building and transport. The company also works in the wind power sector, which requires higher capacity cranes.

Al Faris Group: +33% increase

The Dubai, UAE-based giant continues to expand its crane fleet, adding and replacing several hundred mobile units and more than 25 lattice boom models to its fleet over the past 18 months. The company, which provides temporary power rentals as well as specialized transport services, is active throughout the Middle East and has an office in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Denzai KK: +27% increase

The fast-growing Japanese firm is advancing on many fronts: it recently signed joint ventures with Megalift in Algeria and FTE in Saudi Arabia. The company reported in April that it would be adding a 2,500 tonne capacity Liebherr LR 12500-1.0 lattice boom crawler to its fleet.

BKL Baukran Logistik: +26% increase

Perhaps best-known as a tower crane rental business, the German company is investing also in its mobile crane fleet for general rentals. BKL has recently added industrial assembly operations to its lifting and specialized transport services. The growth of the business is reflected also on the addition of two depots and around 60 staff – a 20 % increase – in the 12 months between the 2024 and 2023 IC100 surveys.

Sinopec Heavy Lifting and Transportation: +23% increase

Steady growth is evident at the lifting and transport division of Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec. The company owns relatively few mobile cranes – fewer than 100 – but it has a lot of heavy lifters in its 80-unit  lattice boom fleet, including a 4,000 tonne capacity XCMG XGC 88000, one of the largest cranes in the world. In addition to external clients, it provides lifting and transport services to its parent company’s oil and gas EPC business, which recently signed a US$1.17 billion contract for a Saudi Aramco LNG plant on the Jafurah gas field in Saudi Arabia.

Aertssen Kranen: +22% increase

Belgium-headquartered Aertssen Kranen has seen a big increase both in its mobile crane and lattice boom crane fleets. It is very active in the Middle East through its Aertssen Machinery Services (AMS) business. AMS started work on a new facility in Qatar last year and early in 2024 announced a joint venture with Mammoet for Qatar.

Darcy Pacheco: +19% increase

Brazilian transport and lifting company Darcy Pacheco was a new entrant to the IC100 in 2022 and continues its steady growth, expanding its mobile crane fleet by 10 % and adding a lattice boom crane to its fleet. The company, which is based in Nova Santa Rita close to Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil, has a subsidiary, DPS Wind, which installs and maintains wind turbines.

Other companies whose IC Index grew by more than 10 % year-on-year included: Sarens, Sanghvi Movers, Shandong Gulf Lifting, SOP&G, Sarilar Heavy Lift & Transport, Public Crane Heavy Equipment, Crane Norway, Nordic Crane, Johnson Crane Hire, Allegiance, Atlas Crane Service, Superior Cranes, Makro Engenharia, Vernazza Autogru, Real Guindastes.

Read more about the full 2024 IC100 list.