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With $731 million in sales and 38,000 items changing hands, 2015 was the best ever for industrial auctioneer Ritchie Bros. at its Nisku auction site outside of Edmonton.

The downturn in the energy sector was a contributing factor, but not the only reason for the increase in sales of used equipment, Brian Glenn, Ritchie Bros. senior vice-president for Western Canada, said Monday.

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Other factors included the company’s widening “global footprint” and its marketing expertise, Glenn said.

“Although the province, and the majority of the people within it, tend to ebb and flow with the price of oil, and that is the main driver here, it’s not the sole source of consignors to a Ritchie Bros. auction,” he said. “It does have a pretty big part in it, mind you, but our customers come from a broad cross-section of industry.”

Headquartered in Burnaby, B.C., Ritchie Bros. is the world’s largest industrial auctioneer. Its Edmonton operations have been based in Nisku since 1976, and at its current site alongside the QE II highway since 2002.