Austin Engineering Chile’s bumper $35 million orders

Mining equipment manufacturer Austin Engineering has won more than 100 orders for new min truck trays at its Chile business in the first three months of FY25.

The orders are collectively worth $35 million and represent significant, and potentially ongoing incremental business over the previous year, according to the company.

The bulk of the purchase orders for ‘first fit’ trays supplied to OEMs follow on from an initial small production order to check product quality and capability, and follow record revenue year in FY24.

A successful ramp up of production is likely to see further orders placed with the Chile business which would require Austin to produce up to three times the number of truck trays per month in FY25 from its recent production levels.

As a result, Perth based Austin has deployed its manufacturing improvement team to Chile to assist in planning the production ramp up.

The Chile business is already operating at twice the truck tray production rate averaged in FY24 and is expecting to reach the new required production rate by early CY2025.

Austin CEO and Managing Director David Singleton, said: “This “first fit” tray program represents a significant outcome from the long-term investment in global relationships that Austin has made.

“We believe this style of order could fundamentally change the growth rate of our business not only in Chile but in our other business units if it is duplicated in other regions.”

Singleton said the ramp-up in production had been achieved through the investments made under its’ Austin 2.0 strategy that focused on customer relations, integrating the business globally, and readying manufacturing facilities for increased production.

“In Chile, we are experiencing a complete transformation of the business, much like what has already been delivered in our Batam facility in Indonesia.

“Chile will move from low-rate production of trays and equipment rebuilds to an operation of global importance to the group.

“We have had to reorganise and grow our teams and operations quickly to support the rapid increase in tray output.”

In addition to the OEM orders, expected production levels of Austin’s own brand tray ranges are expected to strengthen alongside continued demand for both new and rebuild mining buckets, including dipper buckets.

In FY24, the Chile business which services the copper mines of northern Chile and southern central Peru had a revenue base of $51.6 million.

Picture: Austin Engineering