There was a different atmosphere at this year’s Atlas Copco lunch for the mining and construction press in London yesterday. A year previously a great deal of uncertainty loomed over the industry. At that meeting, Björn Rosengren, Senior Executive Vice President for Atlas Copco and Business Area President for Construction and Mining Technique had suggested that his construction business might fare better in 2009 than mining. Yesterday he freely admitted that things had not worked out that way and that mining, accounting for about 60% of the business had done better than construction. He opined that he was “quite optimistic for the mining business.” He also suggested that business growth would restart after a year of no activity – expecting 2/3 from organic growth and 1/3 through acquisition. Through the day’s presentations, the importance of parts and service was stressed by the Atlas Copco people gathered with the press. This sector of the business had held up well in 2009 and is to receive even greater focus going forward.
In late October, Ronnie Leten, President and CEO of the Atlas Copco Group reported that the company achieved healthy profitability in the third quarter of 2009, “supported by sales of aftermarket products and services, and continued efficiency improvements. While demand for equipment remained low in most regions, all business areas increased their profitability compared to the second quarter. We are pleased to see that our efforts to increase customer focus, strengthen the aftermarket and reduce costs are paying off in these difficult market conditions.”
Commenting on the near-term outlook, Leten had said: “Overall demand is expected to stay around the current level. The demand in some emerging markets, including China and India, is expected to gradually improve.” Rosengren also commented on the company’s focus on the BRIC countries yesterday, though he also noted that Russian activity had been quiet. Rosengren underlined the importance of China and confirmed that he would be relocating to Shanghai later next year.
The company had many new products to speak about, which will be considered in detail in forthcoming issues of International Mining.
The global slowdown increased the focus on ensuring maximum uptime and low cost preventive maintenance of both existing and new equipment. Atlas Copco’s CARE concept aims to meet those requirements. And there is a new global training program for customers’ drill rig operators. Called Drill Master, it is an intensive training programme consisting of three levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold – with built-in qualifications enabling trainees to advance to the next level.
There is a completely new hydraulic rock drill – the COP 3060MUX – for use in underground long-hole drilling. Atlas Copco says its design sets new efficiency standards in this rock drill class. The Simba S7 D is now available for long-hole drilling in the small to medium range drift size. The focus has been to develop a versatile, reliable and safe drill rig. It is built upon a modern design with many components in common with the successful Boomer S1 D face drilling rig.
The latest addition to the range of LHDs – the Scooptram ST7 – has been given top marks during field tests in Sweden, confirming major advances in performance, productivity, serviceability and comfort. And there is a new Minetruck, the MT42 , a high-speed 42 t articulated truck designed to maximise productivity as well as provide increased safety and operator comfort in underground haulage.