Bucyrus chief executive officer Tim Sullivan said strong aftermarket and original equipment orders in the December 2008 quarter, in both its surface and underground segments, would continue into 2009.

He predicted revenues of 2.5 billion for 2009 – in line with those achieved in 2008.

“Quotation activity is high which probably smacks indifference to a lot the news in the market place. So we’re relatively bullish about the first quarter,” Sullivan said in a conference call on Friday.

“In 2009 we have the luxury of long lead times and a very strong backlog,” he said.

Sullivan predicted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $US460-475 million in 2009, including room for the negative foreign exchange effect if the US dollar slumps.

He said the company had moved some new sales, including longwall equipment, into 2010 in an attempt to protect itself from any softening in demand for its equipment.

Sullivan said the company’s bullish outlook for 2009 also extended to its acquisition activity, stating the company would not shy away from purchasing companies this year.

During the fourth quarter of 2008 Bucyrus closed two acquisitions. The first – of Czech engineering services and manufacturing-support company OKD Bastro – to shore up the Bucyrus’ long-term strategic initiatives in Europe. The second, of belt-conveyor manufacturer Appalachian Mine Sales, to strengthen its belt-systems business.

Bucyrus posted sales of $US2.5 billion and net earnings of $233 million during 2008. The December quarter was also strong with sales of $721 million and net earnings of $65 million.

For 2008, underground sales were $1.2 billion while fourth-quarter underground sales of original equipment were $224 million and aftermarket parts and service were $137 million.

The underground equipment backlog as of December 31, 2008, was $1.1 billion, with $806 million of that to fall into the next 12 months.

The increase in 2008 underground-mining backlog was predominantly due to strong original equipment bookings, primarily longwall mining equipment, and strong aftermarket bookings.

New orders during 2008 for underground original equipment were $184 million and $125 million for aftermarket.

Sullivan remained bullish on the outlook, stating commodity pricing had found its bottom and was still well above to the cash price to produce.

On the back of a recent trip to Asia, Sullivan said the Chinese stimulus package seemed to be hitting its mark. He observed inventories in steam coal were low but remained high in coking coal.

He said good discipline in pulling back production in international and US markets meant that even though power demand had dropped off by 1.5% in the US, output had dropped off a little more, boding well for commodity prices.