India's largest coal handling agency - Mjunction

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India, China lead global resurgence
Arusha Das
As opposed to the Indian mining sector which was
largely unaffected by the global meltdown, the global
mining sector was hit quite badly.
However, there is a gradual, albeit slow, improvement in
the global scenario. The global demand for mining machinery
and equipment began to plummet in 2008 due to the downturn.
The decline in demand continued through 2009 but some
growth although very slow has been seen in 2010.
In terms of unit sales, China represents the largest market
for mining machinery worldwide, as per industry experts.
“The mining in the European countries is still slow. But there
is growth in both India and China and these markets will be
expanding further in future.
During recession and in 2009 the global mining sector
was hit, which hit the equipment manufacturers as well. This
resulted in a drop of 15 to 20 percent in the sales turnover of
the equipment manufacturers. But in 2010 the situation is
somewhat better,” said an industry expert.
Referring to the German mining equipment industry,
managing director of German engineering federation VDMA,
Rajesh Nath, told Coal Insights that the industry has overcome
the crisis well. In 2009, the industry turnover was Euro 3.5
billion and in 2008 it was almost at the same level.
“The mining equipment industry in Germany posted better
results than any other engineering industry in the region as
a lot of supplies catered to the massive Chinese requirement
along with some backlog orders,” Nath informed.
Speaking about the current scenario, an official of HEC
said that: “In the international market, the Chinese market is
robust. In Australia, mining is growing. In addition to this,
in Brazil the steel industry is surging. Thus, there is huge
opportunity mainly from BRIC nations.”
The mining sector
However, very lately, the international commodity markets
were being influenced by near term slowing from China
and from declining momentum of industrial production in
the US.and other developed countries. Both China’s and US
steel output is down in the second half of 2010. This slowing
growth in steel production is impacting near term demand for
met coal and iron ore. Thus, demand for these raw materials is
levelling off along with softening of prices.
Meanwhile, copper imports into China also have been
impacted by significant reductions in Shanghai exchange
stocks. China’s slowing down is being offset by increased
demand in the rest of the world, and this is providing support
to pricing.
As a result, copper expansion projects are happening in
North and South America and Australia, along with future
greenfield projects in Central Africa and Mongolia.
In the seaborne thermal coal markets, it continued to be
robust through the first half of 2010, led by China and India.
Imports are expected to moderate in the second half. In
addition, India’s major new power plants are being sited in
coastal regions to enable access to seaborne markets.
Thus, future demand will continue to be driven by new
coal-fired power generating capacity scheduled to come on
line in Asia Pacific during 2010. These additions will increase
regional coal consumption.
In the interim, the US.coal market continued to improve.
Although the macroeconomic factors could impact near term
demand, but if the longer term fundamentals continue to
improve, it would trigger a positive outlook for commodity
markets. Emerging markets will continue to industrialise their
economies and the developed countries will continue to recover.
Thus, the demand for mined commodities continues to be
dominated by strong imports from the emerging markets, and
from China and India in particular, with improving but still
weak fundamentals from the industrialised countries. “India
has been growing fast in terms of mining and in China also
there is massive growth,” said an official of BEML.
Thus, India is gradually witnessing growing interest from
the international players. Nath pointed out that there has been
a number of investments made last year. “ThyssenKrupp
Materials Handling Pty Ltd. (TKMH), a subsidiary of German
based global corporation, ThyssenKrupp AG has set up a
manufacturing unit in India.
Carlisle Companies Inc, a US based manufacturer
announced the opening of its first India office in Chennai.
The company has several diversified divisions including
construction materials. Carlisle Trading and Manufacturing
India Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carlisle
Companies Inc will initially focus on India’s growing mining,
construction and power sectors.
Another mining equipment maker, Hectronic GmbH,
has launched its India operations through a wholly owned
subsidiary. The company offers “Intelligent Fuel Management
Solutions” that help cut down unaccountable fuel costs. The
solution uses globally proven robust technology of hardware
and software which provides great tool for tracking and
control on critical refuelling operation. By implementing
Intelligent Fuel Management Solution, one can achieve total
transparency in refuelling operation and can take more
responsible decisions.
Wirtgen GmbH, a member company of the Wirtgen
Group, an internationally active group of companies in the
COAL INSIGHTS 12 October 2010