Tag Archives: Mining OEM

VDMA anticipates Germany mining tech sales drop in 2021

While demand for metals and minerals has boosted order intake for many original equipment manufacturers, the sales of Germany mining technology companies have lagged so far in 2021, according to the VDMA.

In 2020, the industry generated total sales of €3.38 billion ($3.83 billion), the organisation, which represents around 3,300 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies, said. From January to September 2021, sales were down 18% year-on-year at €2.8 billion, while exports in the January-August 2021 period were down 10.4% year-on-year at just under €960 million. Notable drops in export sales were observed in the EU27+UK, China, Russia and Australia, with increases in the USA and NM East unable to make up for that shortfall.

The industry expects sales to pick up by the end of 2021 and anticipates only a moderate decline of 5-10% overall, the VDMA said.

The most common export goods to all markets are, in descending order: crushing and grinding technology, deep drilling technology, mining and roadheaders and tunnel boring machines, the organisation noted.

Michael Schulte Strathaus, Chairman of VDMA Mining (pictured in the centre), expects sales numbers to improve, going forward, as the ‘green mining’ revolution continued to take hold.

“Without mining technology, nothing works in industry now and in the future,” he said at a press conference. “If we want to maintain our current standard of living, we need the corresponding raw materials.

“Only smart mining will lead to green mining. We see our opportunities in offering the best technology worldwide that contributes to resource-saving, efficient, ‘green’ extraction and processing of raw materials.”

Sandvik reinforces commitment to southern Africa miners with new South Africa HQ

In a strategic move that, it says, will consolidate its resources and further enhance its service to customers, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has moved its South Africa headquarters to brand new, purpose-designed premises in Kempton Park near Johannesburg.

According to Simon Andrews, Managing Director at Sandvik South Africa, the state-of-the-art Khomanani facility includes three large workshop areas and office space on a 62,000 sq.m site.

“As the Tsonga name Khomanani reflects – ‘hold each other together as a unit’ – our new home unites us under one roof to collaborate, adapt and learn as we strive towards higher standards,” Andrews says. “The technical synergies of the workshops add to our commitment and capacity for local production that meets global quality requirements.”

Two of the workshops are dedicated to refurbishment and rebuilding of local equipment for the southern African region – mainly Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. This is where new standard-format equipment is configured for local use – typically including features like safety systems, lighting, toe-hitches and decals to customer specifications.

“Our remanufacturing facility allows us to completely rebuild machines to OEM standards, including the sub-assembly refurbishments on transmissions, axles, differential and pump motors,” Andrews says.

The first workshop has 23 bays for machines to be refurbished, while the second is specially equipped with 100 t capacity flooring for the heavier tracked equipment such as underground continuous miners and surface drill rigs. The layout of the site allows the heavy transport vehicles to loop in and out with equipment without needing to manoeuvre, improving workflow and efficiency, the company says.

A combination of cranes from 5 t to 30 t capacity – as well as a specialised 50 t forklift – facilitate safe and quick off-loading and reloading.

The third workshop focuses on local assembly of equipment for both South Africa as well as global markets to Sandvik’s OEM standards.

“Our investment in local manufacturing capacity is an important vote of confidence in South Africa and its mining sector,” Andrews says. “The quality of our work is also world class, allowing Sandvik to shift certain manufacturing duties from elsewhere in the world to our new facility.”

In line with Sandvik’s international guidelines, the design of Khomanani prioritises energy and water efficiency. With a shared solar photovoltaic system and use of LED light bulbs, the building is expected to achieve a 48% saving on energy, also making greater use of natural light, roof insulation and ‘low-E’ coated glass.

Water-efficient fixtures, fittings and systems, as well as rainwater harvesting, will improve water consumption levels by 42%, according to the company.

Epiroc prepared for more order records after strong Q2

Record orders received, high revenue growth and improved profitability were all part of Epiroc’s June quarter financial results as the OEM also made significant headway on its diesel-to-battery-electric retrofit plan to help electrify the mining sector.

Orders received increased 37% to a record high of SEK11.07 billion ($1.27 billion). This corresponds to 45% organic growth compared with the June quarter of 2020, the company said, noting that the 2020 three-month period was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Within this, equipment had the highest organic order growth of 76%, supported by a few large orders, such as an underground mining equipment order from Mexican contractor CoMinVi for use at several mines throughout the country.

The aftermarket also had a strong development, with organic growth of 26% for service and 42% for Tools & Attachments, Epiroc noted.

On the electrification front, Epiroc also highlighted that the June quarter had seen the company win several orders for battery-electric equipment, including one from Ivanplats for the Platreef project in South Africa, while receiving the first orders for its diesel-to-battery retrofit solution. The latter is starting with the conversion of diesel ST1030 loaders to battery-electric versions.

Revenues increased 15% to SEK9.733 billion in the June quarter, while operating profit and operating margin rose 54% and 22.4% to SEK2.182 billion and 22.4%, respectively.

The period was also characterised by several acquisitions, including the purchase of Australia-based Kinetic Logging Services, Canada-based 3D-P, and South Africa-based MineRP. Chile-based Mining TAG and Meglab, based in Canada, also came into the Epiroc fold in earlier July.

Speaking to IM just after the results came out, Helena Hedblom, Epiroc President and CEO, said the company had seen the automation, digitalisation and electrification trends observed across industry accelerate in these regions, among others, since the emergence of COVID-19.

“We see that different regions are ahead in terms of different capabilities,” she said. “We have seen a lot around digitalisation and automation in Australia, and, in Canada, when it comes to electrification, there are a lot of things happening. South Africa is strong when it comes to software and, on top of that, there are some regional players serving the sector like Mining TAG.

“We, as Epiroc, can come with our global footprint and help these regional players go abroad and roll out the technology on a global level.”

These acquisitions have seen the company’s staffing contingent swell in the last year. At the end of June, Epiroc said it had 14,569 employees across the globe, compared with 13,967 a year earlier, tied mainly to these acquisitions. Indeed, the three companies acquired during the June quarter came with 430 employees in total.

At the end of 2019, prior to the global onset of the pandemic, Epiroc had 14,268 employees on its books.

While Hedblom acknowledged much of the staffing increase was on the back of acquisitions, she did say the company was ramping-up additional workforce in “manufacturing, in supply chain and in service”.

And looking back to the rationalisation carried out across the company during the height of COVID-19 worries – which saw a notice of termination provided to 425 employees in Sweden and the consolidation of the manufacturing of exploration drilling tools in Canada – Hedblom said the company had since repositioned itself for the type of growth it was now experiencing.

“When we did the correction last year, we addressed a lot related to, mainly, admin and back office. With these acquisitions coming on board, of course, the majority of employees are technology-related people…software developers and service people to manage the technology out in the field.”

And, lastly, when it comes to the capacity to keeping up with record orders, Hedblom said: “We have a very flexible manufacturing setup where we do the final assembly, in house, and a lot of the pre-assembly is done by some external suppliers. That is how we are – and have always – managed swings in order volumes.

“We can also add more capacity if needed in our assembly lines. We are not regionally limited there; being able to use the different facilities we have in both the US and Sweden, in addition to China and India. We can balance that demand between the sites.”

Amarillo Gold to receive first Metso Outotec modular FIT Crushing Station

Amarillo Gold Corp is to become the first company to install Metso Outotec’s modular FIT™ Crushing Station at its Posse gold project in Goiás State, central Brazil.

The new crushing and screening solution was introduced by Metso to the markets in 2020, and Amarillo Gold will be the first site where it will be installed, the mining OEM said. The solution has been designed to bring significant savings of resources and time to mining operations.

“Amarillo Gold has a strong social licence to operate in the Mara Rosa property where the Posse gold project is located,” Arão Portugal, Country Manager at Amarillo Gold, said. “Our aim is to build a modern, sustainable mining operation, and Metso Outotec’s FIT Station fulfills our ambitious targets for the process.”

The FIT Station to be delivered to Posse has a design capacity of 540 t/h of run of mine with an average production of 102,000 oz/y of gold (years 1 to 4). The station consists of crushers, vibrating feeders and screens, as well as conveyors and related structures and other equipment.

Amarillo Gold is advancing two gold projects in Brazil. The Posse gold project, which has resources of around 1.2 Moz of contained gold, is in the company’s Mara Rosa property in Goiás state. The project will operate an open-pit mine and carbon-in-leach operation with dry stack tailings.

Guillaume Lambert, Vice President, Crushing at Metso Outotec, said: “We are very proud to have the honour to work with Amarillo Gold. They are a frontrunner aiming to select the best technology for their project. Metso Outotec’s sustainable FIT crushing stations are a good fit with this objective, as they are designed for capital expenditure reduction and shorter lead times, with ease of installation and maintenance.”

Epiroc continues to build equipment order book in Q4

Epiroc continued to register strong demand for its equipment in the December quarter, with the mining OEM’s order intake increasing both in the underground and surface mining segments, the company reported today.

Headline numbers from the December quarter included a 1% year-on-year increase in orders received to SEK9.3 billion ($1.1 billion), a 5% drop in revenues to SEK9.8 billion, a 10% increase in operating profit to SEK2.2 billion and a higher operating margin of 22.6%, compared with 19.6% a year earlier.

In terms of its equipment, Epiroc said orders received increased 26% organically to SEK2.97 billion in the last quarter of 2020.

Speaking to IM shortly after the results were released, Helena Hedblom, Epiroc CEO, explained: “The equipment orders…were across our portfolio, and the good thing is there were not that many large orders in the quarter; it was many small- and medium-sized orders.”

This would imply the strength in equipment demand – which came from both the underground mining and open-pit mining segment – is broad across the industry, coming not just from the major miners.

This pattern was also seen in the September quarter of 2020 when the company recorded a 25% year-on-year organic increase in equipment orders in the period, with the majority of orders coming from small- to medium-sized contracts of, say, one or two pieces of equipment, Hedblom said at the time of the results release.

Looking at the wider equipment and service segment of the business – which provides rock drilling equipment, equipment for mechanical rock excavation, rock reinforcement, loading and haulage, ventilation systems, drilling equipment for exploration, water, oil and gas, as well as related spare parts and service for the mining and infrastructure industries – Epiroc said the share of orders from equipment in this segment was 43% in the December quarter. Service, meanwhile, represented 57% of the orders.

Epiroc said it expected demand, both for equipment and aftermarket, to remain stable in the near term, while cautioning: “Uncertainty, however, still remains regarding the COVID-19 development and any further related restrictions.”

In the results release, Hedblom said automation, digitalisation and electrification solutions were in high demand over the quarter, with the company connecting more and more machines over this time frame.

“We continue to win orders and we are proud of our market-leading solutions that are globally deployed and proven,” she said. “They enable increased productivity, safety and sustainability for our customers.”

When questioned about the planned acquisition of MineRP, announced late in the quarter, Hedblom said the combination of the MineRP platform with its own digital solutions would allow Epiroc to “become a better productivity partner” in a mine’s digital journey.

IM also got Hedblom’s thoughts on if there was a regional difference in the speed of uptake of ‘new technology’ in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak. She said: “I see this technology shift coming in a different light with the pandemic. Sustainability is coming in; digital tools are becoming more and more natural as we need them.

“There is maybe an acceptance that the technology is here to stay, is available and customers want to jump on this journey now. I see it across all regions, which is a bit different to how the mining industry has adopted new technologies in the past.

“We have good traction everywhere now when it comes to new technologies.”

And, on the subject of ‘new technology’ uptake, IM asked Hedblom if she saw any parallels between the evolution of automated equipment adoption in the mining sector – which started with solely new autonomous equipment purchases to improve operations and moved towards a combination of retrofits and new equipment as the technology gained traction – and how companies may look to leverage mine electrification underground.

She answered: “I think it is too early to say yet. If I look into the coming 5-10 years, conversion of existing fleet will be one way to speed up the electrification journey. That is also why we are investing and developing these types of products to allow us to offer retrofits as part of the mid-life rebuild process, for example.”

The company confirmed back in November that its battery-electric retrofit solution for diesel-powered machines is expected to launch in the March quarter of 2021.

Metso Outotec to flex minerals processing muscles following merger

The first public showing from executives of the new Metso Outotec has highlighted just how big the new group will be within the mineral processing ecosystem.

Circa-15,000 employees, some 5,000 service representatives, around €4.2 billion ($4.7 billion) of sales in 2019…the stats are impressive.

The minerals sector dominates within this, representing 61% of 2019 sales.

It will cover everything from comminution through to tailings management, meaning the company will be able to touch most parts of the process not involving ‘mining’ itself.

Coming just a day after the merger was completed, Pekka Vauramo, President and CEO, and Eeva Sipilä, CFO and Deputy CEO, understandably did not go into too much detail on the webcast about what the year-long merger approval process had shown the executive team in terms of their initial cost synergy estimates. Investors will have to wait until August for more detail on that.

Last year when announcing the deal, the companies said they expected to achieve run-rate annual pre-tax cost synergies of at least €100 million and run-rate annual revenue synergies of at least €150 million.

Vauramo explained on the webcast that it was the services, minerals and consumables business areas where there was most overlap between the two entities.

But it appears there will be more than just cost advantages to the tie-up.

Vauramo said: “We are complementing each other’s offerings and activities so well that we have many cross-selling opportunities if we speak about what Outotec can do for Metso’s part and what Metso can do for Outotec’s part.”

Sipilä added to this, saying there were complementary areas within the services sector ripe for these type of synergies.

With such a huge offering, it is hard to pick out areas of focus for Metso Outotec, but sustainability has been front and centre for both Metso and Outotec in the recent past. Unsurprisingly, it will be important for the combined group.

On climate change, Vauramo said: “We are really on the spot with that one to develop more efficient processes, with higher recoveries, better quality, less water consumption or full recirculation of water.”

By taking a more “holistic look” at the whole processing flowsheet, the company will be able to ensure less energy is used throughout the entire process, leading to lower emissions. Any water that is consumed will be recycled where possible, according to Vauramo.

This also implies tailings management will be a cornerstone for Metso Outotec, leveraging both companies’ expertise in filtration technology, alongside Outotec’s paste backfill capability, and other developments the two have made within the dry stacked tailings arena.

“Our expertise is in that process,” Vauramo said of tailings management. “That is where we want to be, and we want to further innovate that process.”

Digitalisation developments within the services area (which represents 56% of group sales) will also accelerate within the larger group.

Vauramo, referencing Metso’s experience during the last three-and-a-bit months, thinks remote monitoring opportunities will grow.

“The COVID virus has shown that the need for remote monitoring is really increasing,” he said. “It has shown many business cases for future remote monitoring needs.

“We have learnt that mines can operate at least temporarily – some over a longer period of time – with a reduced presence at site. But, for service reasons, we do need to know how the equipment performs.”

A third remote performance centre (previously called Metso Performance Center) was recently added to this digital offering through the redevelopment of a former Outotec premise in Espoo, Finland. This European location comes on top of the centres already opened in South America (Santiago, Chile) and Asia (Changsha, China).

It is the R&D part of the new entity that will help the company continue to innovate on this front and others; this is an area Vauramo believes the company can continue to lead on.

“Our R&D investments annually are €100 million,” he said. “That is more than anyone else in the industry.”

The company has 30 R&D centres, more than 8,000 patents and produces around 15 new innovations or products a year from this “mostly decentralised” platform.

Asked whether he expected this type of spending to continue into the future, he said: “€100 million makes just short of 2.5% of our combined sales. I would say we are in the right range (with that figure). Whether it should be 3%, or whether we continue with this approximately 2.5% of sales remains to be seen; it depends on our strategy and the opportunities we see.

“What I would say is that we will not hesitate to increase it (the spend) if we have the right opportunities.”

Epiroc posts Q1 results as it braces for future COVID-19 impacts

“We expect that the demand both for equipment and in the aftermarket will be lower and that the effects of the pandemic will have a significant negative impact on revenues and profit in Q2 (June quarter).” That is the headline quote from Epiroc CEO, Helena Hedblom, in the mining OEM’s March quarter results.

While the prospects for the current quarter look far from rosy, the results for the March quarter were reasonably strong: revenues dipped only 7% (SEK9.134 billion ($903 million)) year-on-year, profits rose 3% to SEK1.4 billion and operating cash flow jumped 225% to SEK1.5 billion.

Despite Epiroc’s China business being hit in February, and its manufacturing facilities for consumables in India, South Africa, and Canada (Quebec) being temporarily closed from the end of March, there were limited COVID-19-related effects on its March quarter results, the company stated.

As the impacts of the pandemic continue to grow with restrictions from various governments and authorities, the impact has started to be felt more acutely by Epiroc. Hedblom told analysts after the results release that the commissioning of new equipment was becoming harder with such restrictions in place, as was the transportation of its products. On the latter, the company commented that its costs had risen.

Fortunately, the company is in the middle of a wide-ranging revamp to its supply chain that is seeing key parts and service personnel redeployed to hubs near its major customers. Although this program is not yet complete, the availability of local inventory has somewhat dampened the impact of the COVID-19-related restrictions to date.

Similarly, the company has managed to navigate a supply shortage of certain components in Europe, Hedblom said. Speaking to IM after the analyst call, she said the manufacturing teams were utilising existing component stockpiles to complete outstanding tasks.

Just how many future tasks the manufacturing team has all depends on how long mine stoppages in the likes of South Africa, Canada, Peru and India continue. While South Africa miners are set for a phased ramp up of operations and those miners in Quebec have been given the go ahead to reopen, there are many mines that remain on care and maintenances.

Hedblom said these dynamics were very different to financial downturns where specific commodities and companies with lower margins were hit due to cashflow issues.

“It is evenly split between different commodities,” she said referring to the shutdowns. “There are plenty of gold mines in there, for instance, and that is despite the gold price holding up well.”

During this time – and factoring in potential future supply chain issues – Epiroc is prioritising its aftermarket customers to keep existing mines operating.

One would estimate the percentage of revenue associated with aftermarket sales would, therefore, grow beyond the 72% registered in the March quarter (which itself is an 8% rise from the December quarter) based on the assumption mining companies would defer new equipment purchases until restrictions had been lifted and global economies had stabilised.

This would also mirror the March quarter results where Epiroc recognised a 12% organic increase in service orders, compared with the previous year, at the same time as orders for equipment, rock drilling tools and attachments decreased.

Yet, this all depends on how long existing mine stoppages are enforced.

Epiroc said: “Mining is deemed essential in many countries, which means that most mines continue to operate, but in some cases mines have temporarily stopped operations or operate at reduced capacity due to restrictions from governments and authorities.

“As a consequence, Epiroc estimates that revenues from the aftermarket will be negatively impacted in Q2. The magnitude of the impact will depend on how the restrictions will develop during the quarter.”

While the company is up front in its assessment that revenues and profits will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the June quarter, the new CEO said the company would continue to invest in R&D throughout this period.

“We have consolidated in admin and marketing, in addition to manufacturing (see the latest announcement on its North Bay facility), but I am protecting R&D,” Hedblom told IM. In late November, Hedblom said the company was currently investing 2-3% of revenue in R&D.

Previous R&D investments have led to the development of many innovative products from Epiroc – mainly geared towards automation, digitalisation and electrification – and Hedblom said some “very exciting products” would be launched later this year, regardless of COVID-19 restrictions.

Some of these new products will likely help miners continue operating in environments such as those being experienced now, with Hedblom seeing the automation trend the company recognised, pre-COVID-19, picking up where it left off, post-COVID-19.

“The more people you can remove from the mine site and the more you can control the environment in which they work (remote operations, for instance), the better,” she said.

Komatsu boosts productivity on P&H electric rope shovels

To maximise the performance of one of the hardest working pieces of equipment at a mine site, Komatsu has launched a new line of dippers for its P&H electric rope shovels.

The new TRC dipper series is named for the three design innovations that make up its next-generation technology designed to increase productivity, reduce total cost of ownership and enhance safety, the company said.

The three innovations include:

  1. A trapezoidal shape that maximises capacity without adding additional weight;
  2. A roller latch system and door that lowers door stress levels resulting in improved life and reduced rebuild costs; and
  3. A cast equaliser that provides up to 1.98 m of additional dig and dump height, creating more flexibility to keep up with changing mine plans.

These new dippers are designed to help mine operators improve productivity through a design that increases dipper volume, maximises full digging forces and provides reliable door opening and closing, Komatsu said.

“Total cost of ownership is lowered, compared to traditional dipper designs, through the use of components that will frequently last rebuild to rebuild and design factors that reduce wear,” Komatsu said. “Longer living components and a reduction in wear translates to fewer maintenance needs, to lower cost and drive for zero harm.”

Brian Fox, Vice President for Surface Products, Aftermarket and Technology at Komatsu Mining, said: “We’ve got a deep history of working closely with our customers in the mining industry to develop the tools they need to solve the unique challenges posed by mine sites.

“The design and technology built into our new TRC dippers is based on the knowledge and experience we’ve gained over 135 years in the mining business.”

Sandvik cuts work hours, temps/consultants, spend on COVID-19 concerns

With the COVID-19 virus continuing to affect business operating conditions, Sandvik says it has initiated measures to support savings both in the short and long-term.

The initial focus is on short-term activities with quick impact such as reduced worktime, reduction of temporary employees and consultants, and reduced discretionary spend, it said. Structural changes and reductions in work force to adapt to changed market conditions in the longer term are, in addition, being reviewed.

While the company said business development during January and February 2020 had been in line with its expectations – with the exception of China where the COVID-19 situation led to one week of prolonged closing of its operations around the Chinese New Year (the operations are now up and running and approaching normal capacity) – during March, the uncertainty has gradually increased in many other parts of the world, it explained.

“Most production units in the Sandvik Group have been able to continue operating, however due to government restrictions the production is currently on hold in Italy, India and partially in other regions,” Sandvik said.

“Although Sandvik currently believes that the direct impact on its financial performance during the first (March) quarter will be limited, Sandvik has identified a need to mitigate future effects on our businesses from the rapid spread of the coronavirus.”

The “temporary short-term actions” primarily related to reduced working hours, will generate savings of about SEK1.5 billion ($147 million) in 2020. The initiation of long-term “structural measures” imply costs of about SEK1.4 billion reported as items affecting comparability in the operating profit in the June quarter of 2020, with the majority impacting cash flow, Sandvik added. It expected savings of about SEK900 million from these long-term structural measures, which will reach full annual run-rate by the end of 2021, though.

Sandvik said: “Actions to reduce worktime will mean a temporary negative effect on the compensation for many employees. The members of the Sandvik Group Executive Management have therefore also decided to reduce their salary by 10% during this period.”

On top of this, the Sandvik Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolve on a dividend of SEK3/share, compared with the previous proposal of SEK4.50/share.

“It is the Board of Directors’ intention to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting before the end of October this year to resolve on an extra dividend of SEK1.50, assuming that the market has stabilised and the financial position of the company so permits.”

Stefan Widing, who only took up the role of President and CEO of Sandvik on February 1, said the COVID-19 situation had escalated around the world and the company had to adapt to this “dramatic change in global business conditions”.

He said: “Divisions within all three business areas are taking prompt action in order to secure our long-term market leading positions and protect our company.”

COVID-19 pandemic hits Caterpillar supply chain

Caterpillar says the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to impact its supply chain, with the mining OEM weighing up alternative options to ensure it can continue to operate the majority of its facilities at this difficult time.

The company mentioned such a possibility in its risk factors back on February 19.

This week, Cat said it was monitoring the situation closely and supply chain teams had been executing business continuity plans, which include, but were not limited to, being alert to potential short supply situations, and, if necessary, using alternative sources and/or air freight, redirecting orders to other distribution centres, and prioritising the redistribution of the most impactful parts.

“Caterpillar is committed to continuing to execute these plans and will remain in close contact with its supply chain to monitor future possible implications, especially on production facilities,” it said.

While the company is continuing to run most of its US domestic operations and plans to continue operations in other parts of the world, as permitted by local authorities, it said it was temporarily suspending operations at “certain facilities”. It did not name these facilities.

Cat put this decision down to “uncertain economic conditions resulting in weaker demand, potential supply constraints and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government actions”.

It added: “The company will continue to monitor the situation and may suspend operations at additional facilities as the situation warrants.”

On top of shutting certain facilities in reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak and other related issues, Cat said it was continuing to implement several preventive measures to protect the safety, health and well-being of employees, customers, dealers, suppliers and communities, while also meeting the needs of global customers, at this time.

This included increased frequency of cleaning and disinfecting of facilities, social distancing practices, remote working when possible, restrictions on business travel, cancellation of certain events and limitations on visitor access to facilities.

Cat concluded: “The magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extent of any impact on Caterpillar’s business, financial position, results of operations or liquidity, which could be material, cannot be reasonably estimated at this time due to the rapid development and fluidity of the situation. It will be determined by the duration of the pandemic, its geographic spread, business disruptions and the overall impact on the global economy.”

Following the factors mentioned above and the continued global economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cat said it was withdrawing its financial outlook for 2020, which previously estimated a profit per share outlook range of $8.50-$10.