Quarry world unites over Kenyan quarry massacre

All those connected to the world’s quarrying and aggregates industries were left shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling massacre of 36 innocent Kenyan quarry workers by Somali al Shabaab militants on the morning of Tuesday 2 December 2014.

After events like that the fact that the quarrying and aggregates trades are of huge global importance really hits home. I’m sure I echo the thoughts of all within our industries in expressing sincere condolences to the family of the deceased.

The last few weeks of 2014 saw two major international shows take place in Asia: 7556 bauma China 2014 (25-28 November) in Shanghai and 7143 bC India 2014 (15-18 December) in Delhi. Rising attendance numbers at both shows compared to their previous editions, in bauma China 2014’s case by 6% to 191,000, from 149 countries and regions, demonstrate the importance of China and India to the global construction, quarrying and aggregates equipment industry. Exhibitor numbers at bauma China 2014 were also up by a notable 14% to 3,104, made up of OEM and other company representatives from 41 countries.

At the same time as preparing this latest edition of Aggregates Business International, I’ve been preparing a lengthy feature for Route One Publishing’s Global Report Construction Equipment 2015 publication on current and likely future trends of the world’s key regional construction, quarrying and aggregate production equipment markets.

Based on research by numerous independent and highly respected industry sources, Asia, Africa and Middle East are key drivers within overall global demand and are tipped to remain so in the next few years. Looking at China, Off Highway Research) (OHR) predicts a 5% rise in 2014-2015 to 274,615 construction equipment unit sales. After a 2% fall in unit sales in 2016, OHR forecasts that sales will increase by 4% 2016-2017, and by a further 3% to 288,160 unit sales 2017-2018. OHR also notes that the level of bad debts is an “increasingly worrying” feature of the construction equipment industry, and is something that needs to be addressed as a “matter of urgency”.

Growth is also forecast within the Indian construction equipment market, as new Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed billions of dollars to new transport and other infrastructure projects. There are also big sales opportunities, the latest research indicates, for construction, quarrying and aggregate production equipment OEMs, and aggregate producers and suppliers, in the rest of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, which is investing heavily in new infrastructure, partly due to its hosting of key global commerce (World Expo 2020, UAE) and sporting events (FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar).

This issue of ABI has a big African focus. Our Quarry Profile looks at how an experienced South African quarrying firm is seeking out new production means as it looks to cash in on its surprise discovery of a new decomposed granite rock source. We also have a feature on the current issues and trends within the East Africa quarrying and aggregates market, and look at how the market may change over the coming years.    

On a final note, it will be fascinating to see what impact the 1022 European Commission approved merger between 725 Lafarge and 680 Holcim, creating the world’s biggest cement company with US$44 billion annual revenues, will have on non-European based competitors such as Nigeria’s 7635 Dangote Cement.