Construction Upsurge Pushes Crane Count to Record High

The recovery of the multi-storey residential sector and continued upswurge in commercial projects have pushed the nation’s crane count to record heights across our city skylines.

The latest count of cranes found there were 813 cranes at work across Australia in the first quarter of 2022, the highest number since the RLB Crane Index began 20 years ago as company fleets nearing capacity.

Records were set on the Gold Coast, Sydney, Perth and the Sunshine Coast as well as in the non-residential index, which was up on the previous quarter by 20 cranes to 261.

Sydney was crowned Australia’s crane capital with 43 per cent of the cranes across the country, with the biggest developments at One Sydney Harbour Barangaroo and 180 George in Parramatta, each with four cranes.

Strong growth in approval levels through 2021 saw a lift in the total value of approvals of 22 per cent across the nation, boosting crane numbers.

Multi-level apartments jumped 21 per cent, houses 31 per cent, health 97 per cent and industrial 27 per cent.

However, this was the first time in six quarters the residential crane index increased after the pandemic pushed buyers towards house-and-land packages and stripped the market of international buyers.

Crane spotting in Australian cities, first quarter 2022

^{^Source: RLB Crane Index Q1, 2022}

The industries hit hardest by the Covid during 2020 and 2021 recorded substantial increases in crane numbers—commercial rose by 10 cranes, hotels by one and retail by two.

Heath and mixed-use projects pushed numbers up by eight and 18 cranes respectively.

Meanwhile, civil and civic sectors saw a small drop, with a loss of four cranes each, along with recreation, which fell by two cranes. 

Crane activity on residential sites increased from 443 cranes at the end of 2021 to 506 in March.

Rider Levett Bucknall Oceania director of research and development Domenic Schiafone said the index showed the remarkable resilience of the industry but that there were many unknowns ahead.

“Given the varying levels of escalation across the country that has occurred in the past 12 months, developers are trying to ‘crystal ball’ future pricing risk to determine whether to proceed with builds or not,” Schiafone said.

“Some may be considering waiting in the hope of a more stable environment with future capacity in the market and more supply and cost certainty. 

“However, recent Shanghai lockdowns, and how open borders and migration will impact the construction sector over the next 12 month, highlights there are many unknowns still ahead.”

Falcon Cranes managing director Alex Macklin said they had experienced increased demand and most companies were nearing capacity.
 
“The industry is extremely busy with multiple sectors all using tower cranes on projects,” Macklin said.

“I believe there will be a shortage of cranes towards the back end of this year and into 2023. 

“So in that respect, supply-demand for cranes means most companies are near capacity with fleet utilisation.”

Macklin said that due to a combination of factors ,such as sites withs space constraints and proximity to neighbouring properties, the use luffing cranes had become prevalent.