Mining machinery caters to the global demand for raw materials
bauma 2013: Mining bucks the negative trend in the construction machinery sector
What do the Football World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games 2016 in Brazil have to do with mining and the manufacturers of mining machinery? In the case of both of these major events, the host country is committed to an enormous ongoing program of investment, which includes infrastructure projects. For this they need raw materials. And to extract these, specialist machinery is required.
The higher the demand for mineral resources, the higher, too, is the demand for mining machinery. At bauma, the International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles and Construction Equipment, manufacturers from all over the world will be showcasing their latest machinery and technology for this branch of industry. The next bauma takes place from April 15 to 21, 2013 in Munich.
Since 2007 sales by the mining machinery manufacturers in the German Trade Association of Mining Machinery Manufacturers (a part of the VDMA, Germany´s engineering federation) have risen by an average of 13 percent per year. Dr. Paul Rheinländer, Chairman of this trade association, is very happy with this performance: “With these figures, we are one of the few sectors in Germany that grew right through the downturn.” The reasons for this, believes Rheinländer, lie in rising demand for raw materials and in the high quality of the products themselves. The export ratio for this sector in Germany is at around 92 percent. In 2012 the value of machinery exports is put at €5.33 billion.
The association expressly welcomes the raw materials partnerships concluded with Mongolia and Kazakhstan. These are aimed at not only securing supplies of raw materials for Germany, but also strengthening machinery sales in these countries. Similar agreements with Australia, Canada and Chile are also in the pipeline.
In the medium to long term, too, the signs look good for further expansion in business for the mining machinery manufacturers. In more and more countries around the world – above all BRIC, i.e. Brazil, Russia, India and China – there is a growing middle class which has high spending power and an appetite for consumption. Correspondingly, demand for raw materials is rising to cater for these countries and for the world as a whole, where the population continues to increase. The manufacturers of mining machinery are set to benefit from these trends.
Further information: www.bauma.de