Member of the JSE-listed Bidvest group, McCarthy Heavy Equipment (MHE), is expand-ing its offering to the mining industry, with the introduction later this year of the 70-t Sany excavator, adding to the 20-t, 23-t, 30-t and 42-t machines already available.

“Sany is also developing a 55-t rigid dump truck, which will be available locally by the end of June next year,” says MD Dylan Chicken.

“We are targeting the min- ing industry with both these products.”

Chicken says Sany is China’s largest privately owned capital equipment manufacturer, and is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company will manufac-ture 10 000 excavator units in 2009, and has production plants in China, India and the US, with a new facility planned for Germany.

Apart from Sany, MHE sells the Chinese Shantui and Yuchai yellow metal brands in South Africa.

Shantui is government owned, and has secured 51% of the Chinese bulldozer market.

“The company is number four globally,” says Chicken.

In contrast to its big brothers, Yuchai is a mini excavator brand, with the company also producing forklifts and engines.

Since starting out in March last year, MHE currently sup-ports 144 units in South Africa.

Chicken says it has not been an easy road for the company, as it had to overcome the so-called ‘Chinese stigma’, convincing customers that the MHE products were solid and reliable, and well supported.

“These products all run on well-known engines, such as Cummins or Mitsubishi. They use Kawasaki hydraulics.

These are well-proved technologies the South African market is familiar with.”

Now, however, after nearly 18 months on the market, the brands are doing well in South Africa, especially on the back of the country’s drive to build new roads, mines, dams and power stations, says Chicken.

“We believe we will double our current machine population by the end of June next year.

“Already we’re a profitable company.”

Chicken says all indications are that there is plenty to be optimistic about in terms of the South African yellow metal market.

“In 2006, the South African capital equipment market numbered R6-billion. In 2007 this increased by 26%, to R7,5-billion.

We expect the market to grow by the same measure in 2008. There is no sign of it slowing down.”
MHE currently has branches in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

“We’ll roll out five sub-dealers over the next year, largely in the mining areas of Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga,” says Chicken.

He also notes that MHE is set to expand its product offering into the materials handling market, by adding a new division to the company, to include general cargo and warehousing equipment, and port and harbour equipment.

The general cargo and warehousing initiative will be a joint venture with “an established player in the South Africa’s market”, and will include the importation of products such as light and medium counterbalance forklift trucks, and electric narrow-aisle warehouse trucks.

MHE’s new ports and har-bour initiative will distribute “a leading European brand”, he adds.

This product range will include reach stackers, empty and full container handlers, rubber-tyred gantry cranes and ship-to-shore cranes.

Chicken says the start-up of the new division is “imminent”, and that there “should be an announcement in the next three months”.

The establishment of the new business areas is driven by the fact that Bidvest’s competitors all have materials-handling divisions, and that there is still room in the market for a competent competitor, he notes.

“We’ll be able to supply Bidvest’s needs across a broad spectrum, also catering for external customers and their respective materials handling needs,” says Chicken.