Tag Archives: Jim Umpleby

Caterpillar to relocate global headquarters to Texas

Caterpillar Inc has announced it will move its global headquarters to the company’s existing office in Irving, Texas, from its current location in Deerfield, Illinois, with the transition starting this year.

While the equipment maker has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s across several areas of the company, Illinois remains the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world.

In 2017, the company announced it would move its global headquarters to Deerfield, following a decision to move out of Peoria.

On the plans for the most recent move, Caterpillar Chairman and CEO, Jim Umpleby, said: “We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world.”

Caterpillar to introduce battery-electric and autonomous haulage tech at Newmont ops

Newmont has announced a strategic alliance with Caterpillar Inc to deliver a fully connected, automated, zero carbon emitting, end-to-end mining system that will see the introduction of first-of-a-kind battery-electric haulage technology and automation at the gold miner’s Cripple Creek and Victor and Tanami mines in the USA and Australia, respectively.

The announcement comes a day after Newmont’s Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Dean Gehring, told the Energy and Mines Virtual World Congress that the company’s primary focus for decarbonising its mobile mining fleet was on battery-electric options. It also follows the deployment of autonomous haulage solution technology at the Boddington mine in Australia (control room, pictured).

Together, the two companies will collaborate to create a safer, more productive mine, and substantially support Newmont in reaching its 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets of more than 30%, with an ultimate goal of being net zero carbon by 2050, the companies said.

Tom Palmer, President and CEO of Newmont Corporation, said: “A year ago, Newmont announced industry-leading emission reduction targets because we understand the human contribution to climate change. We followed with a commitment to invest $500 million over five years to identify pathways forward as we firmly believe that we must make bold, lasting commitments to achieve the necessary change for a bright, healthy future.

“Today, we furthered that commitment by announcing a new strategic alliance with Caterpillar to address climate change by fundamentally changing the mining industry through the rapid development and implementation of a comprehensive all-electric autonomous mining system to achieve zero emissions mining.”

Newmont’s surface and underground mining fleets are responsible for approximately 40% of the company’s carbon emissions, and building a new model for surface and underground mining is critical to delivering on Newmont’s emissions reduction targets, the company said.

Newmont will also be supporting Caterpillar’s validation of evolving features and functionality within the MineStar suite to be deployed across Newmont’s surface and underground assets globally. This deployment facilitates centralised production and asset management.

“Caterpillar is committed to providing transformational advancements in safety, sustainability and technology,” Jim Umpleby, Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Inc, said. “We share Newmont’s dedication to a reduced-carbon future, and we’re honoured to work together on this industry leading effort.”

(From left to right) Rob Atkinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Newmont, Tom Palmer, President and CEO, Newmont, Jim Umpleby, Chairman and CEO Caterpillar Inc, and Denise Johnson, Group President, Caterpillar Inc

Under the agreement, Newmont plans to provide a preliminary investment of $100 million as the companies set initial automation and electrification goals for surface and underground mining infrastructures and haulage fleets at Newmont’s Cripple Creek and Victor (CC&V) mine in Colorado, USA and Tanami mine in Northern Territory, Australia. The goals include:

  • Introduction of an automated haulage fleet of up to 16 vehicles at CC&V planned through 2023, with a transition to haulage fleet electrification and implementation of Caterpillar’s advanced electrification and infrastructure system with delivery of a test fleet in 2026. Actions include validating first-of-a-kind battery-electric haulage technology in the years prior to full production of autonomous electric haulage equipment;
  • Caterpillar will develop its first battery electric zero-emissions underground truck to be deployed at Tanami by 2026. The deployment includes a fleet of up to 10 battery-electric underground haul trucks, supported by Caterpillar’s advanced electrification and infrastructure system. This includes first-of-a-kind battery electric haulage technology for underground mining in 2024, the introduction of battery autonomous technology in 2025, with full deployment in 2026.

Together, Newmont and Caterpillar plan to validate equipment, infrastructure, technologies and processes to transform both surface and underground mining, focusing on safety, automation, decarbonisation, optimisation, data and asset management across Newmont’s global operations, the miner said.

“Leveraging Newmont’s scale and operational capabilities, the alliance sets the stage for the rapid development and deployment of the technologies, ultimately improving safety, productivity and energy efficiency across the mining industry,” it added.

Cat Q2 sales highlight North America mining equipment demand

Caterpillar’s Resources Industries division continued to perform well in the June quarter of 2019, with the segment registering strong demand from, in particular, North America.

Cat Inc saw sales and revenues of $14.4 billion in the three months ending June 30, a 3% year-on-year increase, while its profit per share was up slightly to $2.83 ($2.82/share in Q2 2018).

Following these results, Cat maintained its 2019 outlook for a record profit of $12.06-13.06/share, but said it was expecting the annual figure to come in at the lower end of this range.

Chairman and CEO, Jim Umpleby, said: “We have the right strategy in place to deliver long-term profitable growth through our continued focus on strategic investments, including growing services and expanding offerings.”

The highlight of these results was a record performance from Cat’s Construction Industries division, with the $6.47 billion of sales reflecting, according to Umpleby, the company’s “strong competitive position globally”.

While this was the headline from the quarterly results, the company’s Resources Industries division put in another good shift in the period.

Resource Industries’ total sales were $2.8 billion in the June quarter, a 11% year-on-year increase, with the jump primarily due to higher equipment demand and favourable price realisation, Cat said.

“Mining customers increased capital spending to support ongoing mine site operations, which drove higher sales. In addition, sales increased for non-residential construction and quarry and aggregate customers,” Cat said.

It was easy to see where, geographically, the boost came from. North America sales were up to $1.06 billion in the quarter, from $804 million a year earlier. Latin America and Asia/Pacific couldn’t match that 32% year-on-year rise, but still saw sales climb 14% higher to $448 million and $759 million, respectively. Year-on-year sales to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, meanwhile, came in 22% lower at $446 million.

Profit was also up in Resources Industries – at $481 million in the quarter compared with $411 million a year earlier. Favourable price realisation was again picked out by Cat as one of the reasons for the 17% year-on-year jump, in tandem with increased sales volume, which was partially offset by higher manufacturing costs.

Cat hits record profit per share metric in 2018

Caterpillar has delivered the best full-year profit per share in its history, while registering higher sales volume and improved demand across all regions and three primary market segments in the December quarter.

At $10.26/share, its profit for 2018 was way up on the $1.26/share it posted for 2017. On top of that, the company is predicting this number will increase again in 2019, with an outlook range of $11.75-$12.75/share.

Cat’s 2018 sales and revenue came in at $54.7 billion, compared with $45.5 billion in 2017, while adjusted profit was up at $11.22/share (2017: $6.88/share).

Caterpillar Chairman and CEO, Jim Umpleby, said: “In 2018, Caterpillar achieved record profit per share and returned significant levels of capital to shareholders. Our global team remained focused on serving our customers, executing our strategy and investing for future profitable growth.”

Total sales and revenue was $14.342 billion in the December quarter of 2018, a $1.446 billion year-on-year increase, with higher sales volume driven by improved demand across all regions and in the company’s three primary segments, Cat said.

In the company’s resource industries segment, total sales were $2.797 billion in the December quarter, up $489 million on higher demand for both mining and heavy construction equipment, including quarry and aggregate, the company said.

“Mining activities were robust as commodity market fundamentals remained positive, and increased non-residential construction activities drove higher sales,” Caterpillar said.

Resource industries’ profit was $400 million in the most recent quarter of 2018, compared with $210 million a year earlier. The improvement was mostly due to higher sales volume and favourable price realisation, partially offset by higher material and freight costs, the company explained.

Despite the company predicting another record profit per share in 2019, Umpleby said its outlook assumed only a “modest sales increase” based on the fundamentals of its end markets as well as “the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment”.

“We will continue to focus on operational excellence, including cost discipline, while investing in expanded offerings and services to drive long-term profitable growth,” he added.