Industry Report Global and China Mining Equipment and Machinery, 2011-2012(one)
In spite of gloomy globle economic situation, the mining equipment and machinery industy has shown relatively stable growth on account of the three as follows:
First, most of the metal ores have been mined for half a century or even longer, so the ore grade delines year by year. For example, the copper ore grade was 0.91% in 1985, but it falls to below 0.75% in 2012, it is expected to drop to 0.70% in 2015. The copper output can not be raised, and the copper price remains coparatively stable. Once the demand increases slightly, the copper price is likely to soar. To raise the output, the mines have to apply more sophisticated equipment, if the grade declines severely, they may replace all old equipment with new ones.
Second, in the mining equipment and machinery industry, the working conditions are harsh and the equipment has rather a short lifespan. For instance, a shearer's lifespan lasts five years, while the drum bitting of a roadheader only has the lifespan of 2-3 months.
Third, the follow-up maintenance costs and service costs of mining equipment and machinery are quite high. Take a shearer as an example, the maintenance costs in five years double the first purchase price. For international large- sized mining equipment manufacturers, over half of their revenue comes from after- market services.