Amelioration of Product Reliability Remains the Key Focal Point for Mining Pump Manufacturers

The booming prices of various commodities have further necessitated the resurgence of mining sector with large-scale adoption of mining equipment, which is fuelling growth of mining pumps market.

“New mining projects and expansion of existing mining projects have generated demand for new equipment and machinery. This provides enough credence to the fact that demand for mining pumps will increase at a significant pace.” Senior Research Consultant S N Jha, Fact.MR.

The report opines that leading manufacturers of mining pumps, in a bid to retain their brand equity, are focusing on upgrading the quality and efficiency of their products. Xylem, a leading industrial giant, introduced Flygt 2400 stainless steel pump in the year 2016, which was the first stainless steel-only pump in the series designed for mining applications. The product was a durable and super-high head pump meant for transporting chemically-aggressive mine water. Apart from this, manufacturers are also vying to make their products capable of making a notable contribution toward enhancing efficiency of a mine, primarily in terms of energy consumption.

According to the research study, the sales of mining pumps with small capacity (up to 500 gpm) remain the highest with an estimated figure of 2,404,279 units by 2018-end, followed by medium and high capacities. As per the report, the mining pumps sales in APAC remain an all-time high, both in 2017 as well as 2018. Leading manufacturers are vying to expand their business footprints across regional markets of APAC, especially in China, owing to the presence of advanced manufacturing technologies and cost-effective products as compared to the developed economies. North America and Eastern Europe trail the former as the second and third attractive regions for market players to consider in terms of investments opportunities.

Mining Pumps Market Represents a Moderately-consolidated Landscape

As per the report, the mining pumps market represents a moderately-consolidated landscape, with the collective share of tier 1 and tier 2 players being around 60-70%. The top 6 companies in the mining pumps market, namely Xylem, Flowserve Corporation, KSB SE & Co. KGaA, Weir Group, Sulzer Ltd., and GRUNDFOS, hold around 40-48% share and these brands are driven by their robust product portfolios. Unbeatable operational excellence combined with new developments in tune with the latest trends enables these players to retain their market buoyancy.

The ability of a smart pumping system to achieve efficiency and productivity is enhancing its appeal among the mining operators and plant managers. Being an integral part of a mining plant, mining pumps are being increasingly deployed across greenfield and brownfield projects evolving in the mining sector. As per the report, the rising need for convergence of intelligence with pumping systems is leading to wide-spread embracement of concepts like IOT and Industry 4.0 in the pumping infrastructure.

Incumbency has been identified as one of the key competitive tools of the companies operating in the mining pumps market. In this scenario, an entrenched supplier with an affluent relationship with the customers can gain revenue benefits from not only replacement demands, but also from rising sales for expansion or new project-related activities. Moreover, product reliability and competitive pricing are some of the prominent differentiators of the leading market players. The report also opines that focus on specific pump types remains one of the key focal points of manufacturers to gain significant profit margins

As per the report, the mining pumps market is foreseen to grow at a CAGR of around 2.9% over the forecast timespan of 2018 to 2028.