Barlowworld’s Equipment southern Africa business saw a rebound in mining unit sales in 2017 following the low level in 2016. “While mining unit sales have improved compared to last year, the growth has been driven by increased demand for smaller sized truck units by contract miners.” Operating profit of ZAR1.8 billion was
ZAR200 million (13%) up on last year with the operating margin increasing from 8.5% to 9.8%. The company adds: “The outlook for mining in Equipment southern Africa remains positive with demand for commodities and related commodity pricing holding up. We are forecasting mining unit sales and mining after sales to show continued growth in 2018.”
Income from associates, which mainly relates to the Bartrac joint venture in the Katanga province of the DRC, increased from ZAR14 million to ZAR94 million with the recommencement of mining activities at the Glencore Katanga copper mine during the current year and improved commodity prices. Glencore’s Katanga Mining has reported in its Q3 results:”Mining operations continued during 2016 and 2017 at KOV and Mashamba East Open Pits with a focus on waste mining.” In Q3 2017, Katanga commissioned six Cat 793 haul trucks at the KOV Open Pit copper mine plus a Cat 6015 hydraulic excavator.
In August, Equipment southern Africa celebrated its 90th anniversary as a Caterpillar dealer. This coincided with the
official opening of the new Caterpillar/Barloworld parts facility at Kempton Park “which will further improve parts availability to our customers.”
In its Russian business, revenue for the year of $385 million was $56 million (17.1%) up on the prior year driven by strong growth in mining unit sales particularly into opencast gold mining projects. “In addition we have experienced
16% growth in after sales revenue.”
