In 2023, Austin Engineering received its first-ever order of truck trays from an India-based customer, representing a new market opportunity for Austin’s Asia Pacific business.
India is one of the world’s largest mining countries, with more than A$39 billion worth of minerals produced each year, and a rapidly developing mining industry. India is also the world’s third-largest iron-ore producer and has some of the largest mineral reserves of coal, iron ore and bauxite globally.
India’s mining industry has shown rapid growth over the past 10 years with the nation becoming a major international player in the production and exportation of critical minerals.
In June 2023, Austin received a purchase order for four haul truck trays from one of India’s major iron ore producers, adding further growth to our already extensive Asia Pacific business and opening a new door to possible customer partnerships.
Austin’s customer is looking to demonstrate the benefits of Austin’s unique truck tray design across its iron ore operations.
Austin’s CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton said:
“We are very excited to have this entry point into India as we continue to broaden our customer network across the Asia Pacific region. India is the world’s third-largest iron ore producer, and we are pleased to have secured an order with one of the country’s major miners.”
The order consists of customised ULTIMA trays that took nine months of engineering work with the customer to complete. The trays are custom-designed without a steel wear liner and are designed to deliver an additional 66,000 tonnes of ore per annum with less downtime for repairs.
The trays will also be fitted with Austin’s Mainetrack condition monitoring software to allow our customer to monitor the wear rates of their new truck trays in real-time.
Mr Singleton said,
“It presents an important opportunity for Austin to market its customised equipment and the potential advantages it could bring the country’s iron ore sector.”
Austin is looking forward to continuing to expand into the Indian mining market.
“We also see India as a logical market expansion opportunity given our existing experience in the Australian iron ore sector. The Australian Government has vastly improved business access and trade opportunity with India through an elimination, reduction or phase-out of tariffs, and we see a long-term future potential for Austin in this market.”