Pressure on some commodities has definitely put the viability of some proposed projects in jeopardy because of the perceived current downturn. It no longer seems to matter what bulk material is involved as all are impacted to some extent and the order books of the major manufacturers of heavy bulk handling equipment such as stacker-reclaimers have been squeezed. Contract successes that the major manufacturers will talk openly about are few and far between.
Just a year ago, several of the major makers of bucketwheel stacker-reclaimers were gearing up for what they thought would be their “best year ever” in sales.
Now, some have found things didn’t quite turn out that way and they’re eking out an existence in this sector of the bulk materials handling market by making deliveries of orders taken up to 24 months ago, but delayed for various reasons. As the coal market stalls, iron ore and copper surge . . . it has always been thus in the topsy turvey world of bulk commodities, as one material soars, another flounders.
Capital efficient tonne
Decisions made amid signs of a resurgent coal industry a year or so ago, for example, are no longer so certain today as world market prices have dropped from the heady levels of just a year or so ago. Big mining companies seek to deliver “the capital efficient tonne” by fully utilising excess capacity in the supply chain and this often revolves around bulk handling machinery such as stacker-reclaimers. Ports play a role by streamlining stockyards and stacker-reclaimer systems to deliver a capital efficient tonne often with low-cost improvements. Some of these enhancements come following debottlenecking studies that highlighted changes needed to make better use of the supply chain and, again, stacker-reclaimers are often involved.
Westshore Terminals, Canada’s premier coal export terminal in Vancouver, for example, upgraded three of its stacker-reclaimers in 2012 when it was found during a debottlenecking study that the oldest three of four stacker-reclaimers needed chute replacements to improve capacity and efficiency. This work was carried out during a major partial terminal shutdown to take out a single rotary dumper and replace it with a new twin dumper set. Often stacker-reclaimers form part of a materials handling package upgrades at ports, which could also involve new conveyors, rail car dumpers, and shiploader or unloaders. These mega projects have also taken a hit.
Moderate year
One of the major manufacturers of stacker-reclaimers in the world, Metso Minerals Industries Inc, Bulk Materials Handling Group, says 2012 turned out to be a “moderate year – neither good nor bad.” Many companies are now “regrouping or rebuilding and we anticipate 2013 will be similar,” says David Hicken, Metso’s Vice President of Global Sales. Metso, with its base in Finland, sells all over the world and despite the threat of the United States falling over fiscal cliffs and other market deterrents, the company reports encouraging demand in Russia, Africa, and Chile and Peru.
Markets continue to be driven by the world’s big mining companies such as BHP-Billiton, Vale and Rio Tinto, and there’s a resurgence in demand for coal-fired power stations in India, says Hicken. The global prospects also include several North African countries and South American nations being fuelled by Chinese investment and development dollars.
Flat 2012
Another big stacker-reclaimer maker, FL Smidth, of Denmark, experienced a “flat” 2012. “This was okay in terms of processing orders and billings, but there was a lot of inactivity over new orders,” says Arrien Westhuis, Global Director of Business Development & Marketing, based in Bethlehem, PA in the USA.
Westhuis says that following the presidential election in November in the United States, the fiscal capex for mining was cut back from USD150 billion to USD135 billion “and I have a sneaky suspicion it will be cut back even further.” With a typical delivery time for a bucketwheel stacker-reclaimer taking up to two years, some buyers are find their customisation needs simply add time and time adds expense.
However, Westhuis says it’s very clear that materials handling has “a very bright future in terms of infrastructure requirements, particularly in the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and emerging countries. And he adds there are good prospects for the iron ore, coal, copper and fertilizer industries, especially among the major exporting countries such as Australia, Indonesia and Brazil. “There’s also a lot of work going on in China, but currently that is not one of our primary top targets.”
Peru visit
At ThyssenKrupp Fordertechnik (TKF) in Germany, Vice President Project Sales, Dr Wei Ye, is just back from Peru where he hopes his company will be successful in landing a major materials handling equipment contract involving a stacker-reclaimer, crushers and a conveyor system for iron ore mine and port. While it’s too early to reveal details – there is no s
igned contract – but, South American coal and iron ore projects “are the focus for us – they were last year and will be into the future.” Often, the buyer interest is in separate stackers and separate reclaimers depending on the project and the material handled. Last year, ThyssenKrupp sold five of the separate machines, including a sale to Russia’s Nakhodka coal terminal of a single stacker and a stacker and a separate reclaimer to mine and port sites in Liberia.
Dr Ye admits the past year for stacker-reclaimer sales was “not so spectacular” but still satisfying and notes sales in Holland, India, South Africa and Liberia. The Dutch success saw a stacker-reclaimer go to EMO Terminal and another to Europort.
Sales successes
Two more stacker-reclaimers were sold to India and its Jindal Power Plant, thanks to the sales efforts of TKF’s Indian office and will be delivered this year. And another two stacker-reclaimers will also be delivered this year to the Hindalco Power Plant for coal handling duties before year’s end. Other major manufacturers of stacker-reclaimers include Taim Weser, of Spain, which won a huge four machine order for the new Superporto Sudeste in the city of Itaguai in Brazil. The four stacker-reclaimers with a 60 meter boom, have a stacking capacity of 10,000 tonnes per hour and a reclaim of up to 12,000 tph were delivered in 2012 as part of a conveyor belt and stockyard machinery system for the primarily iron ore export port.
Sandvik Mining of Sweden last fall won a major materials handling contract for a Vietnamese steel plant involving 14 units – stacker-reclaimers, individual stackers and reclaimers, plus the supply, design and engineering of all structural, mechanical and engineering components. The contract will run through until 2015 and involves various materials such as iron ore, coke and sinter. And German manufacturer FAM (Forderanlagen Magdeburg) has recent stacker-reclaimer sales to ports and power stations in its domestic market as well as multiple sales to Australia and one to Mozambique.
Canadian made
Not to be outdone, Canada launched its own stacker-reclaimer engineered and designed by EMS-Tech Inc, of Ontario, and built by the Ramsay Machine Works in Sidney, BC. It will be the first stacker-reclaimer for the expanding port of Neptune Bulk Terminals and boasts “the best available, proven technology for dust suppression.” The terminal currently only has a reclaimer, which will remain on backup duties, and the new stacker-reclaimer is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of this summer. Neptune recently won Port Metro Vancouver approval for a $200 million expansion to double its capacity to 18.5 million tonnes a year.
While stacker-reclaimers are seen as behemoths of machines, they actually are the gentle giants of materials handling although they don’t come cheap, with price tags from between USD25-USD45 million depending on capacity and options. Although there are cost savings to be won in ordering “off-the-shelf” machinery, no two machines are built the same and the major manufacturers are continually customizing their deliveries around the world to meet specific customer needs. The bucketwheel stacker-reclaimer family can be found handling a wide variety of bulk commodities such as coal, iron ore, copper, cement, salt, magnetite and other materials.
Own worst enemies
No wonder Walter Kung, President of Tenova Mining, told a mining Industry Leaders Round Table late last year talking of materials handling equipment: “I think the clients are actually their own worst enemies sometimes. I don’t think we have ever built exactly the same machine twice; there is always some electrical or some hydraulic aspect that the client wants to customise.”
Some would contend that not much has happened in recent years by way of innovation with bucketwheel stacker-reclaimers, which outwardly look much like they did a decade ago. New control systems and automation usually top the list of advances; the use of 3D imaging for stockpile management is also becoming popular; and there have been improvements in water spray systems.
These days the stacker-reclaimers can be operated remotely or in automatic mode and in some cases three or four can be controlled by a single operator. In fact, most stacker-reclaimers come with the automatic option, although it is up to the customer to decide how frequently this method of stacking to the stockpile or reclaiming the product for shiploading is used.
Companies like Sandvik continue to spend big on across the board research and development – the company invests SEK3 billion a year in some 60 R&D centres around the world – and it’s no wonder that between 20-45% of Sandvik’s invoicing today is from products that were launched in the past five years.