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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
JANUARY 2017
11
ARTICULATED DUMP TRUCKS
few new mining projects and ADT operators
were running machines for longer as they did
not want to commit to large capital outlays
at that time. 2016 saw some optimism
with some commodity prices recovering
and customers starting to engage in fleet
replacements,” adds Du Pisanie.
According to Du Pisanie, the market size
varies significantly, which is one of the
challenges for ADT manufacturers. “South
Africa varies from 400 to 1 000 trucks a
year. Africa as a whole goes from 700 to
1 500 per year. The global total is generally
between 5 500 and 10 000.”
Roelof Wallace, Astra sales manager at
CNH Industrial, agrees that South Africa
is a very well-known ADT market for all
manufacturers in this space, especially with
its high commodity wealth. “Due to the
current economic status of South Africa and
other African regions at large, investments
and sales numbers have slowed,” says
Wallace. He notes that fleet owners are
also starting to look at on-highway options,
which are somehow cheaper than their
ADT counterparts. To date, Astra has more
than 30 ADT units operating in the local
market. “But, with a focus on further dealer
expansions, we trust and believe we can
grow this number significantly on an annual
basis,” says Wallace.
Competitive market
Add to the slowing market, competition
is rife in this market as OEMs continue
jockeying for market share, with a
substantial move, on a global scale, being
the acquisition of Terex Trucks business
by Volvo CE in 2014, giving the Swedish
OEM a strong position with two different
product lines that cater for two different
market tiers. Locally, that has also given
Babcock, the southern African dealer for
Volvo CE, an edge with two reputable ADT
brands catering for two market segments.
“The southern African ADT market, and
in particular the South African marketplace,
remains highly competitive. However, from a
Terex Trucks point of view, we are definitely
seeing a resurgence of our brand under
Babcock’s distribution in southern Africa,”
says Erik Lundberg, business manager
– sub-Saharan Africa at Terex Trucks.
“Simultaneously, we are beginning to see,
what will hopefully be a long and sustained
recovery in the South African mining /
earthmoving industry, which is contributing
to higher sales volumes and market share for
Terex Trucks in southern Africa.”
Doosan also recently introduced its
ADT range to the local market through
DISA Equipment, trading as Doosan South
Astra has
more than
30 ADT units
currently
operating in the
local market.
Market trend – unit sales by month