Industrial gearbox industry trends

Electrical switching & drive systems & components

January 2012 Electrical switching & drive systems & components

When Hansen Transmissions South Africa (HTSA) first entered the southern African market in 1969 as CE Hulquist, the company cornered substantial market share and has maintained that share for more than four decades, even through the 2009/10 global recession. In fact, in June 2010 HTSA supplied its 10 000th gearbox to the local mining industry.

“Between 2006 and 2008, we had annual growth in excess of 30%, largely driven by increased industry demand and high prices for commodities”, says Fritz Fourie, managing director HTSA. “However a rather sharp decline in demand became noticeable during the latter part of 2008 when credit constraints became severe. Demand for commodities fell drastically, funding for new projects was insufficient and mining companies instituted a strict capital conservation strategy. Even major mining houses cut capital expenditure drastically, in some instances by as much as 40%, negating even the best efforts of governments to stimulate the global economy. Most South African mining companies adopted a wait and see policy, not cancelling projects but rather putting them on hold. Projects in the platinum mining sector bore the brunt of the credit crunch and were cut to the bone as platinum prices continued a downward spiral in 2009”, notes Fourie.

According to Fourie, mining and water treatment industries are the main local business sources for industrial gearbox suppliers. “The water industry has been relatively quiet during the past 24 months,” he says. “Anticipated growth has been rather disappointing, despite substantial government funding being made available to the water treatment industry. Popular opinion is that this is due to lack of capacity at local government level but with increased environmental and service delivery pressures being brought to bear on local government, I believe an upward trend in this sector is imminent”.

The coal mining sector remained quite active and stable throughout the economic saga with the drivers being expansion of existing and new mines to support the Medupi and Kusile power station projects and to meet expanded export capacity expected from Richards Bay Coal Terminal’s phase 5 expansion project. The large helical and bevel helical gearbox market, driven by coal mining projects as well as anticipated increase in commodities demand from China, showed recovery in the latter part of 2009. New mining projects normally have long lead times, but projects that were put on hold were activated earlier than expected to meet the upswing in international demands, according to Fourie.

“Unsurprisingly the energy sector has also emerged as a major player, with the Medupi and Kusile power plant projects accounting for approximately 60% of the total industrial gearbox and geared motor revenue, while the automotive and food and beverage industries deliver in the region of 30%. As the geared motor market relies on the motor, food and beverage industries, this sector was expected to be hardest hit”, he adds.

“We have secured numerous large orders from collieries as well as the energy sector during 2010 and again in 2011 and we are optimistic that this is just the beginning. The positive signs for growth across all sectors are there. We are more than ready. We have access to world class R&D as well as cutting edge technology to ensure continued delivery of state of the art drive solutions to local mining and industry,” he concludes.

For more information contact Fritz Fourie, Hansen Transmissions, +27 (0)11 397 2495, [email protected], www.hansenindustrialgearboxes.co.za

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Industrial gearbox industry trends

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