A Kalmar E-One RTG crane handling rail cargo at Terminal Container Athus, Belgium.

In its 2005 review, Kalmar parent company Cargotec Corp said the Stockholm-based container handling and heavy material handling provider experienced strong demand in all regions for all product lines.

The review said 282 straddle carriers were delivered in 2005, a 30 per cent increase on 2004. Orders for Kalmar's seventh generation straddle carriers, introduced in June 2004, were received from German, Australian, South African and Réunion ports.

The total number of rubber-tyred-gantry (RTG) cranes ordered was 74, "beyond Kalmar's expectations". The E-One, Kalmar's all-electric RTG crane, received orders from Chile, Columbia, Argentina, Belgium, the USA, Turkey and India (Forkliftaction.com News #192).

"It's unique to triple the volume of equipment ordered from one year to another," Kalmar spokesperson Benoit Passard said of the RTG cranes.

The number of forklifts and log stackers ordered by the paper and forestry industry was "record breaking" but would only be available when Kalmar's first quarter results are released in Cargotec's interim report on April 24.

Commenting on the new toplift, custom designed for the North American container handling market and introduced in November 2005, Passard said Kalmar had received "very positive results with several deals already signed" (Forkliftaction.com News #237).

Kalmar received orders for its empty container handlers from the Port of Rashid and Jebel Ali Port, in the United Arab Emirates, and Sabah Ports, Malaysia, last year.

Kalmar's 2005 net sales totalled EUR1,147 million (USD1,389 million), up 33 per cent from 2004. Operating income tripled to EUR 97.6 million (USD118.2 million) (2004: EUR31.2 million/USD377.7 million).