DIESEL PROGRESS®
International Edition
EDITORIAL & SALES
MICHAEL J. OSENGA..............................PUBLISHER
MICHAEL J. BREZONICK..............ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
IAN CAMERON ..................REGIONAL MANAGER/EDITOR
ROBERTA PRANDI.............. REGIONAL MANAGER/EDITOR
DAWN M. GESKE..........................EXECUTIVE EDITOR
AMANDA M. KLEMP......................ASSOCIATE EDITOR
JOSEPH M. KANE........................ASSOCIATE EDITOR
SHEILA GAILLORE TO ......................ASSOCIATE EDITOR
D. PHILLIP BURNSIDE ....................ASSOCIATE EDITOR
BRENT D. HAIGHT........................ASSOCIATE EDITOR
KYLE KOPPLIN ..........................ASSOCIATE EDITOR
KATIE EVANS........................ADVERTISING MANAGER
NIKI TRUCKSA ......................ADVERTISING MANAGER
SUE M. BOLLWAHN..................CIRCULATION MANAGER
MELISSA C. MCNULTY........................COPY EDITOR
BO SVENSSON............FIELD EDITOR/BUSINESS MANAGER
BILL SIURU....................................FIELD EDITOR
DR. W. FLEISCHFRESSER............HYDRAULIC CONSULTANT
PUBLICATION STAFF
MARISA J. ROBERTS ................PRODUCTION MANAGER
BRENDA L. BURBACH ......................GRAPHIC ARTIST
CARLA D. LEMKE............................GRAPHIC ARTIST
AMANDA J. RYAN ..........................GRAPHIC ARTIST
BRENDA K. WEISENSEL ....................GRAPHIC ARTIST
SALES OFFICES
PUBLICATION HEADQUARTERS
20855 Watertown Road
Waukesha, WI 53186-1873, U.S.A.
Telephone: + 1 262-754-4100 Telefax: + 1 262-754-4175
GERMAN OFFICE
LISA HOCHKOFLER ..................ADVERTISING MANAGER
GABRIELE DINSEL....................ADVERTISING MANAGER
Niemöllerstr. 9
73760 Ostfildern, Germany
Telephone: + 49 711 3416 74 0 Telefax: + 49 711 3416 74 74
ITALIAN OFFICE
ROBERTA PRANDI.............. REGIONAL MANAGER/EDITOR
Via Fitta 21 A
I-38062 Arco, Italy
Telephone: + 39 0464 2430891 Telefax: + 39 0464 244529
SCANDINAVIAN OFFICE
BO SVENSSON............FIELD EDITOR/BUSINESS MANAGER
Dunderbacksvagen 20
612-46 Finspong, Sweden
Telephone: + 46 70 2405369 Telefax: + 46 122 14787
BRITISH OFFICE
IAN CAMERON ..................REGIONAL MANAGER/EDITOR
SAMANTHA DORAN..................ADVERTISING MANAGER
Riverbank House, Suite 610
1 Putney Bridge Approach
London SW6 3JD, United Kingdom
Telephone: + 44 20 3179 2979 Telefax: + 44 20 3179 2970
JAPANESE OFFICE
AKIYOSHI OJIMA..........................BRANCH MANAGER
51-16-301 Honmoku Sannotani, Naka-ku
Yokohama, 231-0824, Japan
Telephone: +81 45 624 3502 Telefax: + 81 45 624 3503
CHINESE OFFICE
S.H. MOK................................BRANCH MANAGER
Rm 1405, Kowloon Building
555 Nathan Road
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone: +852 3118 7930 Telefax: +852 3110 3572
Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications
RUSSELL PALMER..................CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
MICHAEL J. OSENGA..............................PRESIDENT
MICHAEL J. BREZONICK............SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
WORLDview
REALIGNING THE
MINING MARKET
A HAPPY
NEW YEAR?
BY MIKE OSENGA,
Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
BY IAN CAMERON,
London, England
MEMBER OF BPA WORLDWIDE® PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
Reprints of all articles published in Diesel Progress
International are available. Please address inquiries to:
mgraesing@dieselpub.com
Tel: 262-754-4137 • Fax: 262-754-4175
The 14 or 15 months we have just lived
through — the economic meltdown of
2008-2009 — put most companies in the
engine-powered equipment markets into
pure survival mode.
Just finding a way to survive the worst
economic collapse in 70-plus years was
about the only thing that mattered.
Now, heralding what hopefully is the
beginning of the end of those times,
Bucyrus International made one of the
boldest moves the off-highway world has
seen — especially given the economies of
the time — with its announcement of the
US$1.3 billion acquisition of Terex’s mining
equipment operations.
That announcement, on Dec. 20, may
have been slightly overlooked in the rush
of last-minute holiday shopping. But it is
a deal that can honestly be classified as
a game changer.
Mining equipment has remained a relatively stable market, especially compared
to construction equipment. Even given that
level of stability, the acquisition is a bold
and fascinating move by Bucyrus, which
had carved out a very profitable niche in
the mining world, centered around the
massive draglines the company builds.
But with the Terex acquisition, which
adds mine haul trucks and other types of
mining machines, Bucyrus now becomes
one of a few global full line mining equipment manufacturers. This alters, significantly, the landscape of the mining market.
Bucyrus has done deals before. It
bought out Marion Power Shovel in 1997,
reducing the number of dragline manufacturers from three to two. More recently, Bucyrus signaled its interest in expanding by acquiring the German longwall
equipment manufacturer DBT in 2007.
This, however, is the mega-deal. Done
in a time when deals just aren’t being
done, Bucyrus has changed the game,
and hopefully signaled the beginning of
a more normal time in engine-powered
equipment. ;
The gathering of the great and the good
of the construction equipment industry at
the Bauma trade show in April will be a
defining point for the sector in 2010.
By the time of the Munich, Germany,
event, we should know for certain if there
are grounds to believe the economic
doom and gloom is fading.
On the other hand, there may be more
damage inflicted by then as companies
ultimately succumb to the lingering pressures of 2009.
Bauma will be a barometer of global
industry sentiment and represents the
first proper opportunity to assess how
deeply last year’s recession was felt.
Hopefully, there will be signs of recovery by April. It may not be a full-blown
“business as usual” atmosphere around
the German exhibition halls, but there
should be belief that this year won’t or
can’t be as bad as 2009 and demand for
construction equipment will be rising.
But despite the nervous optimism on
display, there will still be a dazzling array
of new products, positive announcements and advances in environmentally
friendly engine technology.
We can rely on hybrid-powered equip-
ment to make further inroads into the
marketplace, whilst there may even be
some exhibitors asking, “Recession —
what recession?”
The latter will probably be Chinese, as
once again they will hog the headlines
this year as they continue to make still
bolder advances into European sales
territories and, who knows, emerging as
new owners of some of the best known
names in the construction sectors.
If any one of the household name
equipment manufacturers (and no one is
immune from the threat) is taken over in
2010, it is probable that a Chinese company will be the acquirer. Bauma will
once again emphasize the growing
strength and ambition of the country’s
manufacturers. ;
