ASX-listed Austin Engineering has received purchase orders for four haul truck trays from a major iron ore producer in India, potentially opening up a significant new market opportunity for its Asia Pacific business.
Austin, which has not sold truck trays into India before, said the truck trays in this order will be used in iron ore operations to demonstrate the benefits of the Austin design, however, the company said there is no commitment at this stage from the customer for further orders.
The customer’s total order requirement for all of its iron ore and coal operations is up to 165 trays, Austin revealed in a press release.
Meanwhile, the projected service life of iron ore truck trays is four years, after which time they will need to be replaced.
Austin stated that the orders come after nine months of technical effort with the customer to create a bespoke ULTIMA tray that can perform better than the OEM unit in this application because it is meant to be used without a steel wear liner.
The Austin tray is made to deliver an extra 66,000 tonnes of ore per year per truck while requiring less downtime for wear liners to be replaced during maintenance, according to the ASX-listed company.
This results in a large increase in the total amount of ore delivered during the entire operation each year and, in addition, lower fuel and tyre usage, which lowers carbon emissions per tonne of ore delivered.
David Singleton, Austin’s CEO and managing director, expressed his excitement to have this gateway into India as the company aims to grow its market throughout the Asia Pacific area.
“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,” Singleton noted.
He added, “We also see India as a logical market expansion opportunity given our existing experience in the Australian iron ore sector.”
According to the Austin official, the Australian Government has improved business access and trade opportunity with India by eliminating, reducing, or phasing out tariffs, adding that the company sees long-term potential for Austin in this market.
The four trays are being manufactured at Austin’s factory in Batam, Indonesia, and should be delivered in the following six weeks.
To oversee the delivery and offer assistance with the usage of the Mainetrack digital monitoring system, Austin has assembled a small staff in India.
By the end of July 2023, the four trays are expected to be delivered, and payment will be made exworks Batam.
Transport from Batam to India will be organised by the customer utilising its own logistics network.
