Suppliers Roundup (July 21, 2003)

Cat buys Terex truck business

Caterpillar will acquire Terex’s electric-drive mining truck business in exchange for the intellectual property rights to Caterpillar’s 5000-series mining shovel.

Terex’s 8-model line of DC and AC electric-drive mining trucks will continue to be sold under the brand names Payhauler and Unit Rig, though Caterpillar will now distribute the models.

For its part, Terex will acquire the patents and designs for Caterpillar’s 5110B, 5130B and 5230B shovels.

Caterpillar generated revenue of US$20.1 billion in 2002 and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction and mining equipment. Terex had revenue of US$2.8 billion.

Atlas Copco buys compressor maker

Atlas Copco has bought Puska Pneumatic, a compressor company in northern Spain.

Puska, which generated 11 million euros in revenue last year, sells screw and piston compressors, vane compressors, and refrigeration dryers. The Puska brand name will continue to be used, but as part of Atlas Copco’s Industrial Air division.

In 2002, Atlas Copco acquired China-based Liutech, and in the previous year, the Dutch company Grassair.

The Atlas Copco group generated revenue of US$5.9 billion last year.

Supplier corners DC drive market

Saftronics, a Florida-based company that manufactures direct-current drives for industrial motors, has signed a marketing agreement with ABB of Zurich, Switzerland.

Under the deal, ABB’s DC400, a digital DC drive designed for stand-alone applications, will be marketed by Saftronics.

ABB’s technology allows users to pull out old drives and plug in new ones via a retrofit package provided by Saftronics.

Bechtel inks Peruvian deal

Southern Peru Copper has awarded a US$70-million contract to Bechtel to build a leaching system at the Toquepala mine in Peru.

Bechtel will install a crusher at the open-pit mine, as well as a system to transport material to leach pads.

The new system will replace the use of trucks and is expected to lower production costs.

The annual capacity is projected to be 50 million cubic tonnes.

Southern Peru Copper is among the world’s largest producers of the red metal, and is 54.2%-owned by Grupo Mexico.

SNC-Lavalin active in Mexico

SNC-Lavalin’s Chilean arm has signed a US$1.9-million contract with Compania Minera La Parrena to design and build a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant in Mexico’s Sonora state.

Compania Minera La Parrena is a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Peoles.

The plant is expected to produce 65,000 tonnes of high-grade copper cathode per year, and will include above-ground secondary and tertiary crushers, an agglomeration plant, a solvent extraction plant, and an electro-winning refinery.

Peoles is the world’s largest producer of refined silver and metallic bismuth, as well as Mexico’s largest producer of refined gold.