The new Sunward down-the-hole drilling rig SWDE165B recently arrived in South Africa after a month’s delay at sea. Once safety configurations were installed/made in adherence to local mining requirements, SUNWARD SOUTH AFRICA (subsidiary of Sunward Equipment Company) and its dealer, AZIZE EQUIPMENT, officially delivered the equipment to the customer in a ceremony that took place at the customer’s site in Carolina, Mpumalanga.

The Sunward model SWDE165 is the flagship model of mining rock drilling rigs in the South African market. Based on feedback from end users across the mining, quarry and construction industries, Sunward’s R&D team improved the original foundation to make the new model SWDE165B more stable in performance, lower in fuel consumption, simpler in operation, and more convenient in maintenance. The drilling rig was pre-ordered by the customer who has subsequently ordered an additional 6 Sunward rock drilling rigs.

Basie Roelofse, CEO of AZIZE EQUIPMENT, states that Sunward rock drilling equipment serves many large coal mines in the area, and especially with the poor power supply situation in South Africa in recent years, play a crucial role in the coal supply to local power plants, where coal mine users are very satisfied with the efficiency and reliability of the drill rigs backed by excellent after-sales service. He adds that Sunward also continuously improves their equipment, strengthens personnel and provides accessory support, and with the increasing demand for mining equipment in South Africa and neighboring mining countries such as Tanzania and Zambia, is confident in the steady development of Sunward in the southern African market.

Sunward officially decided to enter the South African market in 2019, and set up a South African subsidiary at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Sunward sales personnel and service engineers continued to provide support to customers in South Africa which, with the support of local agents such as AZIZE EQUIPMENT, has ensured that the South African market has maintained stable growth. Sunward equipment in large mines in South Africa is firmly established, with a value of over R100 million, and local foreign customers accounting for over 90% of this amount. Mining equipment such as 95-ton excavators and various models of down-the-hole drills remain highly popular.

Sunward is looking forward to 2023 as a year of opportunity in South Africa. The BRICS SUMMIT will be held in South Africa in August 2023, with the objective of building partnerships between BRICS and Africa to unlock mutually beneficial opportunities for increased trade, investment and infrastructure development. 2023 is also the 25th year since the establishment of China-South Africa diplomatic relations.

With China's strong network of global mining resources and the accelerated development of globalisation of construction machinery, the export of Sunward mining equipment such as rock drilling rigs and mining excavators has also grown rapidly/exponentially. The future sees Sunward seizing opportunities to promote Chinese construction machinery brands to the world with high-performance products and high-quality services.