South African-based Pilot Crushtec, manufactures of crushing, screening and conveying systems, is making its contribution to development in Africa by providing equipment used to develop infrastructure and to boost minerals production. Foreign investment into African countries for development has boosted African sales for the company by almost 80% in the past five years, with the greater portion of this growth being in the past 12 to 16 months, according to Mr. Graham Kleinhans, sales manager for the company.

Mr. Kleinhans said this accounted for 12% to 15% of the company turnover, and during the past year, this represented sales of about R25-m. He said he anticipated that sales into Africa by the company would grow to 30% to 40% of turnover within the next few years. Equipment manufactured at its Jet Park facility in Gauteng, is being used by the mining industry in the DRC, and in mining and infrastructure development on the continent, in Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Angola, and Zambia, and as far a field as Kenya. Giving examples of recent major sales, Mr Kleinhans said Pilot Crushtec had sold a vertical shaft impact type crusher to provide a solution for a major road-making contract in Botswana. In Namibia, large investments were made in mobile screening equipment from Pilot Crushtec for use in diamond mining operations.

We have embarked upon a serious marketing drive into Africa. There is so much potential on the continent and politically, Africa is now considered to be more stable. Apart from mining, we also see the potential associated with other projects like the construction of highways, airports, sugar mills as well as huge dam projects, he said. Our company is aiming at a 30% to 40% growth rate per annum and we believe we can achieve this with our growing sales into Africa.

Mr Kleinhans went on to add that 80% of sales into African countries comprise complete systems from its modular range of semi-mobile, skid mounted, ready-to-run crushing, screen and conveying equipment. These systems meet current needs in Africa because they are cost-effective and relatively easy to move around. The modular system is readily extended as the need for production increases, he said. An additional aspect in our favour is that in spite of high demand, we can still deliver plant in four to six weeks, which is unheard of in the industry. For a relatively big plant, this delivery time is nothing, but we would like to reduce the delivery time to only two to three weeks.

Another interesting development is that foreign companies investing in Africa have a preference for equipment from South African-based companies because they are assured of an efficient back-up service. Now we can see the benefit of a Made in South Africa sticker on our products. Investors want to know the product they buy has a warranty that means something, he said. Mr Kleinhans added that while other manufacturers sold crushers and conveyors, Pilot Crushtec is the only company that sells solutions. We put everything together in one package by providing a system for material to be fed in at one end, processed and for the finished product to come out on the other end, he said. We put it all together quickly, with a 12-month warranty, and we guarantee that it will work smoothly. Today, people prefer to buy the whole puzzle, and this is the unique service that we provide. With its high quality products such as hammer crusher, Raymond mill, Hongxing Machinery has ascended in the front rank of the world in the exporting of mining equipment.