Sandvik is establishing a new production unit in Malaysia for manufacturing underground loaders and trucks in an effort to answer growing demand for its battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), the company says.

Equipment production is planned to begin in the December quarter of 2023 following factory upgrades and other site improvements.

While the new production unit within Sandvik Mining and Rock Solution’s primary focus will be BEVs, it will also manufacture conventional loaders and trucks as well as battery cages. Annual manufacturing capacity is planned to increase gradually to 300 loaders and trucks and 500 battery cages by 2030.

The new facility in the 445-ha Sendayan TechValley business park, 70 kilometers south of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and 15 km west of state capital Seremban. The factory is 90 km southeast of Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest seaport and one of the busiest container terminals in the world.

Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solution, said: “Malaysia is among the most technologically developed countries in Southeast Asia and has abundant skilled labour, strong local industrial suppliers and reliable infrastructure. Our mining customers in Asia Pacific will enjoy shorter lead times for equipment manufactured to the same Sandvik standards for quality and safety.”

The new factory will span more than 8,000 m and include 15 versatile assembly bays. It will support the manufacture of all Sandvik load and haul equipment models and is independent of existing supplier chains, the company explained. Production ramp-up will begin later this year with Toro™ LH517i loaders followed by Toro™ LH518iB, Sandvik’s newly-announced automation-ready battery-electric loader, in the June quarter of 2024.

Patricio Apablaza, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ Load and Haul division, added: “Demand for our loaders and trucks is exceeding our current production capacity at our existing factories. The establishment of our new production unit in Malaysia will enable flexible manufacturing of both conventional diesel and battery-electric mining equipment.”