Crushing Growth

With construction activities in full swing and several big-ticket infrastructure projects underway there is a growing demand for aggregates, specifically from the road sector, which augurs well for the crushing industry.

Enhanced public spending in infrastructure, increased private participation, huge production targets in the coal and mineral sector, are expected to trigger the demand drive for crushers and screens, especially higher capacity plants. With huge chunk of infrastructure yet to be developed in various sectors, the industry is positive about the uptick in demand which augurs well for the suppliers. The C & S industry has been growing at a rate of 15-20% in the last few years, primarily due to the numerous road projects awarded. The mining segment is still to move towards the growth path. Aggregate sector is the main driver for the growth and the industry expects CAGR in this sector to be +25% while mining maybe around 10%.

Says Raj Shrivastav, Executive In-Charge – Crushing & Screening: “We expect a strong demand for crushing and screening plants and equipment, especially portable units, which are preferred for their inter-site mobility. To match the pace of the build-up of India’s infrastructure, the demand for mid and high range crushers and screens is certainly set to increase. As per industry estimates, the current CAGR of around 12 – 15%, should continue for the next five years.”

“The growth pattern for new roads is grown from 18 km/day to 38 km/ day in last 4 years and the government’s plan is to make it +50km /day. In case of coal, to increase mining to such an extent, slowly coal imports to be reduced to minimum. This has created an increasing demand for bigger capacities of plants above 250 to 400TPH plants.   The current CAGR is pegged at plus 15% and expected to reach to maximum up to 25%,” says Venkata Ramana, Manager Accounts, Puzzolana Machinery Fabricators.

A new entrant in the compact crushing space is Schwing Stetter India (SSI). SSI, one of India’s leading concreting equipment manufacturers’ recently signed a strategic partnership with global leader Rubble Master HMH GmbH, to enter the mobile compact crushing business. The partnership follows both the companies’ recent participation in Bauma 2019, Munich. This is the re-entry of Rubble Master in the Indian market with a new cooperation partner, SSI. According to VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Zchwing Stetter India this strategic partnership is yet another milestone for Swhwing Stetter India.  Sakthikumar stated, “Signing this partnership with Rubble Master is yet another milestone in Schwing Stetter’s successful track record of equipping global businesses to branch to newer territories and attract prospective customers. Their comprehensive range of machines and products will be advantageous for our own customers who will have a wide spectrum of offerings to choose from. Together with our deep domain capabilities, we are well positioned to tap into new verticals of clientele by offering a robust complete portfolio of concreting and non-concreting equipment solutions”.

‘More productivity at lesser cost of ownership, for a longer term’ seems to be a major factor in choosing plant and machinery in general. This demand pull from the end-user segments for more efficient and better performance has had a huge impact on the design trends and the product offerings from OEMs. Same the case is the suppliers of crushers and screens. Vendors are bringing in breakthrough technologies in the latest range of crushers and screens that offers better productivity and ease of operation. As the fuel prices keep going up, most of the vendors coming out with ‘feature upgrades’ to increase the fuel efficiency.   There has been renewed thrust in the road sector which has brought resurgence to the CE industry and this demand trend has also been reflecting in the sales performance of crushers and screens over the last couple of years.

Speaking about the latest advancements in the crushing segment P Ramesh, Managing Director and CEO, Wirtgen India had this to say. “The operation of crushing plants is becoming more and more complex due to the increasing requirements placed on modern crushing plants. At the same time, the technology must be reliable and as simple as possible to operate – and without lengthy instruction and familiarisation periods. Here comes the strong point of the new operating concept called SPECTIVE from Kleemann. With impressive range of functions and intuitive operation, it provides clear instructions and its self-explanatory symbols actively support the user in finding the right setting for each application.”  According to him the market globally has been shifting from wheeled / static plants to track mounted plants, and the same trend is expected in India.

“For products improvement we have a very dynamic internal feedback mechanism whereby our sales and service teams from the respective subsidiaries across the world are required to provide a particular set of data back to our Technical Department in Italy. The info, both qualitative and quantitative that comes directly from our users in different working environments from across the world, is then used to unearth the most sought after improvements which we incorporate with the launch of our new series for each model,” states Piero Guizzetti, CEO, MB Crusher India.

“Optimization of the design has been done to suit the requirement of the customers to enhance the productivity and life of the equipment. We are striking the crucial balance between productivity, cost and life of the machine. Innovation is the key to sustenance and we are continuously innovating and upgrading our products according to the market trends,” says Onkar Sapre, Country Head – Sales & Marketing, Taurian Engineering. According to him the simplest way to tackle the high rising fuel prices is enhancing the productivity. “We are focusing on enhancing the productivity to counter the increasing fuel cost so that per tonne cost can be minimized. We are also constantly upgrading the crushers to enhance the productivity.”

Major players are bringing in breakthrough technologies in the latest range of crushers and screens that offers better productivity and ease of operation. In the last couple of years, most of the growth in C & S has come from the road sector, and this trend will continue for next 2-3 years. Meanwhile the crushing industry expects the mining and especially the iron ore segment to pick up which augurs well for the industry growth.

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