On to the next big show

I always look forward to the 427 Hillhead exhibition in Buxton, county Derbyshire, England. It’s partly the setting: in an attractive working quarry in the middle of the breath taking Peak District. But mainly it’s due to the event attracting all the leading quarrying OEMs and ambitious smaller companies, keen to launch or European market premiere their new and latest equipment models.

Hillhead 2016 (28-30 June) will be true to form and there is product news to whet your appetite for the event inside this issue of Aggregates Business Europe and on our website: www.aggbusiness.com

2016 is some year for major exhibitions, with Hillhead taking place just two months after 386 bauma 2016 in Munich – the world’s biggest showpiece for the construction and quarrying equipment industry. The week-long event attracted around 580,000 visitors – 9% up on bauma 2013 - from 200 countries, who will have been excited about witnessing numerous global equipment launches. Encouragingly, organisers say many exhibitors were talking of record order levels. From a quarrying perspective, 473 Volvo Construction Equipment’s 90tonne EC950E hydraulic crawler excavator – the biggest produced in the Swedish giant’s history – certainly caught the attention. There were also exciting new crushing, screening and washing plants on show from the likes of 448 Metso, 447 Powerscreen, 668 Terex Finlay, 3702 CDE Global and 435 Kleemann.

As well as a big and eyecatching emphasis on new telematics solutions, many quarrying equipment manufacturers were unveiling new service support packages at bauma 2016. Among them were Metso’s Life Cycle Services (LCS) and 8561 Terex Washing Systems 4Site project management service. Talking to many quarrying customers during my work for this title, quality technical support and overall high-class aftermarket care is something that is desired by those investing significant sums in new equipment models; models that will be expected to come with minimal downtime assurance and improved productivity and efficiency as standard.

Given that this edition of ABE will be available at the Hillhead exhibition, it’s apt that our Market Report this issue focuses on current and future aggregate demand in the UK and Ireland. Current demand is strong with major players like Breedon Aggregates having posted record annual trading results in England and Scotland in 2015. In Ireland, big industry hitters like CRH continue to go from strength to strength, with revenues up 9% year-on-year in Q1 2016. That encouraging rise followed the building materials giant’s 25% rise in sales to €23.6 billion in 2015.

Retaining a strong UK focus this issue, I recently visited earthmoving attachment specialist Miller UK’s HQ just north of Newcastle, in northeast England. There, I saw how the firm’s €1.93 million (£1.5 million) investment in its production capabilities was aiding its growth ambitions, and had a fascinating conversation with 6850 Miller UK MD Mike Askew about the company and it’s long-term aims. You can read the results of my trip in this edition’s Interview feature.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading our previous Agg-intel branded features penned by quarrying experts focusing on the latest key trends within the industry. In this edition of ABE, Neil Wells, senior manager responsible for global land and minerals at 674 HeidelbergCement and deputy chairman of PERC (Pan-European Reserves & Resources Reporting Committee), writes about the need for aggregate producing companies to declare reliable reserves and resources information and what it means for our great industry.

Also inside this issue there’s a piece on the vital work of the Centre for Mineral Products Professional Development at the University of Derby in central England, an institution helping hundreds of students already working within the minerals processing sector successfully complete prized industry-standard, globally recognised qualifications.