One such company that has positioned itself to take full advantage of the Bowen boom is the world’s largest crane manufacturing and service group, KCI Konecranes.

Starting from a single office in Moranbah just two years ago, Konecranes says it has “doubled, trebled and quadrupled its commitment to servicing the highly mechanised and automated mines and industry” in the state’s central and northern parts. In addition to Moranbah, it now operates branches in Townsville, Gladstone and Brisbane, and has recently set up in Mackay, widely considered the heart of the Bowen coalfields.

Konecranes’ Queensland manager Stephen Grant said the establishment of a Mackay office had been planned for a long time, and was a significant achievement for the company in terms of its aspirations to secure additional coal-related business. In the past it had been difficult to make inroads in the market due to the dominance of other players, but that had changed recently.

“Today’s industry is performance-based rather than relationship-based, and with the market in a boom period, the two factors conspired to present us with the opportunity to finally open an office [in Mackay] last year, and it has grown dramatically,” Grant said. “We have a staff of seven at the moment, and have actually had to turn some work away.”

“We currently look after almost 250 hooks in Mackay and the Bowen Basin, which includes our own products and those from other suppliers, and we maintain another 20 cranes and monorails at the Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point (export) terminals.”

Although the Konecranes group specialises in manufacturing, about 80% of the Mackay branch’s coal customers – including Coppabella and Moorvale (owned by Macarthur Coal), North Goonyella (Peabody Energy), Blair Athol (Rio Tinto) and Ensham (Ensham Resources) – rely on the company for its service and maintenance skills.

Explaining the philosophy behind this side of the business, Grant said: “You cannot just turn off the production tap in mining. Production has to keep going through and cranes are a vital link in the process. When every minute of unplanned downtime costs thousands of dollars, you have to properly program maintenance to avoid it in the first place, and for our part we have to be able to offer the resources to service that commitment. When breakdowns do occur, it is essential they are rectified immediately, which is why we have a 24-hour service because we understand that lost production can mean hefty losses in revenue for the client.”

First year revenues from the Mackay office amounted to more than $1 million, and Grant is predicting its strong performance will continue. He expects the number of cranes under contract in the region will go close to doubling within the next year, and grow further beyond that.

“The (coal) market is in abundance and we will be capitalising on that,” he said. “We are aiming to grow this office into a $7 million business by 2010 and increasing our staff numbers to at least 20 within the next two years. That would be a very significant achievement for us. The challenge, of course, will be finding good people with the right skills and experience.”

Australia’s Mining Monthly - July 2005