Australia’s Austin Engineering, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, has received purchase orders for four haul truck trays from a major iron ore producer in India.
The company designs and manufactures customized dump truck bodies, buckets, water tanks, tyre handlers, and other ancillary products utilized in the mining industry.
David Singleton, Austin’s CEO and managing director, said in a statement that the company is excited to make moves into the Indian market.
He observed:
“We also see India as a logical market expansion opportunity given our existing experience in the Australian iron ore sector.”
Austin adds that they have not sold truck trays in India before but look forward to catering to the world’s third-largest iron ore producer.
Singleton adds:
“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.”
Experts believe that this purchase could potentially open up a dynamic new market for Australian businesses dealing in heavy machinery in engineering and manufacturing.
Austin’s manufacturing sites are located in Australia, North America, Indonesia, and South America. It adds that at this stage there is no commitment from the Indian customer for further orders. This customer’s total order requirement for all of its iron ore and coal operations is up to 165 trays.
Austin adds:
“The orders follow nine months of engineering work with the customer to develop a customised ULTIMA tray that is designed to be used without a steel wear liner and can therefore outperform the OEM unit in this application.”
Experts say that the service life of one iron ore truck tray is four years and then it needs immediate replacement.
The company says its tray is designed to deliver an additional circa 66,000 tonnes of ore per annum per truck which equates to a significant lift in overall tonnage delivered across the full operation per annum.
The Australian and Indian governments have improved business access and trade opportunities through the elimination, reduction, or phasing out of tariffs thus creating long-term future potential for businesses to grow.
Austin has established a small team on the ground in India to oversee the delivery of the four trays that are being manufactured at Austin’s factory in Batam, Indonesia, to be delivered by the end of July 2023.