Across every industry analyzed in Liquidity Services’ 2026 Surplus Asset Market Trend Reports, from Automotive Manufacturing and Biopharmaceuticals to Energy, FMCG, and Industrial Manufacturing, a clear pattern emerges. Each sector has its own market forces and operational realities. Yet, a common set of surplus asset dynamics is transforming how organizations recover value, meet ESG goals, and modernize their asset strategies.
The reports reveal shared trends that are transforming surplus asset management from a reactive response to unused equipment into a proactive enabler of capital generation through sustainability, compliance, and operational agility.
Written for asset owners, and finance, operations, and procurement leaders researching how to sell surplus assets and maximize recovery value, this overview explains the common dynamics of surplus assets identified across Liquidity Services’ 2026 Surplus Asset Market Trend Reports for Automotive Manufacturing, Biopharmaceuticals, Energy, FMCG, and Industrial Manufacturing.
Across all sectors, the market behaves like a two-tier system. Late-model, automation-ready, or digitally integrated assets, such as robots, digital twin-enabled machinery, AI-ready bioprocess systems, connectable FMCG packaging lines, and Industry 4.0 industrial equipment, command premium resale values.
By contrast, legacy and non-connectable equipment is increasingly discounted as buyers prioritize assets that can plug into digital production environments. For sellers, accurately identifying which assets fall into the “automation-ready” tier is a key first step in pricing and sale strategy. Connectable equipment is increasingly discounted as buyers prioritize assets that can plug into digital production environments. For sellers, accurately identifying which assets fall into the “automation-ready” tier is a key first step in pricing and sale strategy.
Every report highlights surplus asset programs as practical tools for advancing ESG and circular economy goals. Extending equipment lifecycles through resale, redeployment, or refurbishment reduces scrappage, lowers embedded carbon compared with buying new, and supports more resource-efficient operations.
Leading sellers are framing surplus asset programs as part of their ESG narrative, supported by documentation of reuse, refurbishment, and environmental benefits delivered through structured disposition channels.
All five sectors report rapid growth in online auctions and specialized surplus marketplaces. Increasingly, entire lines, plant packages, and high-value individual assets are moving through structured, professional platforms like Liquidity Services’ AllSurplus marketplace rather than ad hoc disposals.
This shift is further professionalizing the secondary market, giving sellers access to broader buyer pools, richer data-on-demand, and more predictable recovery outcomes, provided they partner with experienced operators like Liquidity Services and use established marketplaces like AllSurplus.
Structural shifts are generating multi-year waves of surplus across industries. Examples include the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EV), energy sector transition and oversupply, biopharma reshoring and increased selectivity for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMO), consolidation of FMCG plants driven by regulatory change, and broad adoption of digital technologies in industrial manufacturing.
These forces trigger plant closures, project cancellations, and production line changes, releasing large blocks of surplus assets to the market. Sellers who understand where their assets sit within these transformation cycles can better time sales and anticipate competitive supply.
Across industries, idle equipment is consistently described as a wasting asset. Value declines the longer assets sit unused, as technology advances and markets approach potential oversupply. The 2026 period is particularly important, with many sectors approaching inflection points where older equipment risks rapid obsolescence and lower recovery prices.
For sellers, delaying disposition can mean accepting steeper discounts later, especially for assets that lag current digital and automation standards.
All reports stress that documentation is a powerful, often underused value lever. Assets supported by complete maintenance logs, validation packages, control schematics, and regulatory compliance evidence tend to sell faster and at higher prices than similar assets without this information.
In regulated, highly technical environments, buyers view documentation as a risk-reduction tool, often treating it as part of the asset’s value proposition rather than an administrative afterthought.
These six trends give your organization a practical checklist for evaluating its surplus strategy. Visit the Liquidity Services Automotive Manufacturing, Biopharmaceuticals, Energy, FMCG, and Industrial Manufacturing sites to see how these cross-sector trends can maximize recovery value in your industry. Connect with our experts to design a surplus asset program that helps you better understand the surplus market, choose the proper channels, and capture the highest possible returns.