Heavy Equipment Industry News Updates

RUSSIA
Deere Announces Major Investment In Russia (English)
MOSCOW, Russia (April 2, 2008) – Deere & Company today announced plans to significantly expand its presence in Russia, one of the most important growth markets of the company in both agriculture and forestry.

Deere said it has signed an agreement with the Russian government and local authorities to invest approximately $80 million in a central operations center which includes a distribution, replacement parts and training facility in the Kaluga region, 38 miles southwest of Moscow.
“We believe this is one of the largest single investment projects of a non-Russian farm and forestry equipment manufacturer in Russia,” said Robert W. Lane, Deere & Company chairman and chief executive officer. “Our strategic investment reflects Deere’s confidence in the Russian and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) markets. It also recognizes the commitment of our dedicated Russian employees and the support of the Russian government and local authorities.”

In its initial stage, the new 98-acre facility in the Kaluga region will accommodate a 322,000-square-foot replacement parts distribution center, a training facility for dealer personnel, including a product demonstration site, and a whole goods distribution facility.
“The site will leave room for further expansion potential as our business in Russia continues to grow,” said Mark von Pentz, president of Deere’s Agriculture Division for Europe, Africa and South America. “This new center, which will be operational in 2010, marks a growing commitment to this important region. As an interim step for further investments, it also contains a provision for local assembly and manufacturing at a later stage.”


TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Smelter equipment coming
EQUIPMENT IS on the way to Trinidad from China for the construction of the country’s first aluminum smelter plant, the Alutrint Smelter.

Prime Minister, Patrick Manning made the announcement Friday night at the gala commissioning of the 428-room Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port-of-Spain. Manning also announced that construction on the country’s second iron and steel complex is slated to commence by August.

Manning said, “We will initiate construction of our first aluminum smelter...in fact equipment is now on the water from China.”

In quick succession, the Prime Minister listed a string of development plans, including the new port in the capital city which he said has attracted bidders from around the globe and is to be completed in three years, a $25 billion transportation highway upgrade over the next eight years, the ongoing construction of the Performing Arts Academies, Govern-ment Campus and the establishment of the country’s first national philharmonic orchestra, in tandem with plans for performance arts.


USA
Design Contracts Awarded for Heavy Construction Equipment Manufacturing Plant in Georgia, an Industrial Info News Alert
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- China's Sany Heavy Industrial Company has selected architectural and engineering firms to design the $30 million first phase of a new heavy construction equipment manufacturing plant to be built in Peachtree City, Georgia.
For details, view the entire article by subscribing to Industrial Info's Premium Industry News at http://www.industrialinfo.com/showNews.jsp?newsitemID=130789, or browse other breaking industrial news stories at www.industrialinfo.com.


Squash The Caterpillar
Komatsu is a smaller rival in a global battle, but it is leaving big tracks in China.
Kunio Noji, chief executive of construction and mining equipment maker Komatsu, smiles at the suggestion that he, from his shabby corporate headquarters in Tokyo, has more insight into the health of China's economy than its rulers in Beijing. "I don't know, perhaps we do," he shrugs. Noji's peek into China comes from 23,000 heavy-duty vehicles spread across the nation's vastness, each fitted with an antenna that via satellite link tells Komatsu where it is and what it's doing. Globally, 90,000 machines feed the same data to the Japanese company. Introduced to tackle machine theft, it has helped turn Komatsu into the biggest foreign supplier of excavators and dump trucks to China's booming construction and mining companies.

Not even Caterpillar (nyse: CAT - news - people ), with nearly triple Komatsu's $16.1 billion revenues, can match its better-performing Japanese competitor in a market that Noji reckons is ballooning by 50% a year for his company. "Caterpillar is suffering because of being centered in the U.S.," he says. Cat's home market accounts for better than 40% of its sales, versus only a fifth in long-dormant Japan for Komatsu.


Heavy equipment companies take refuge in overseas markets
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Caterpillar, Deere and other companies that make heavy equipment are enjoying some of their best financial results in years -- and doing it as the American economy grinds toward recession.
The companies are enjoying the building booms going on in China, India, Russia and the Middle East. In those places, the demand for backhoes, cranes and tractors is on the rise.
Peoria-based Caterpillar, for instance, recently reported a 13 percent increase in profits despite an eleven percent drop in North American sales.


Sun, surf and heavy equipment
Cities concerned as renourishment is slated for Strand's peak tourist season
Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach officials are concerned about the timing of beach renourishment work, now scheduled to begin July 5 in North Myrtle Beach - peak tourist season.
City managers would rather see work begin in September along the Grand Strand because, they say, the beaches are a key part of the area's identity and a vital component of the tourism economy.

They have requested a meeting or phone call with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to see about changing the schedule, officials said.


Enhancing Construction Equipment Security - Travelers Inland and Celevoke Announce Risk
HARTFORD, Conn. - (Business Wire) Travelers (NYSE: TRV) Inland and its Risk Control unit announced today that it has developed an innovative initiative with Celevoke, Inc. that will allow Travelers customers the ability to purchase Celevoke’s LunarEYE Wireless Asset Tracking and Control systems at a discount. Recognizing that stolen equipment causes costly delays and increased losses, Travelers Inland is pleased to be working with Celevoke to help reduce the likelihood and severity of losses for Travelers’ insureds. Increased security measures, such as asset tracking, protect the insureds’ significant investment in construction and other heavy equipment key to their operations.


Auburn to invest in heavy equipment
The city is looking to go shopping for some heavy equipment.The Auburn City Council will hear a report Thursday during a work session meeting about the public works department's need for some large pieces of machinery. According to a proposed ordinance, city officials want to purchase a front-end loader, a hydraulic back hoe, a compactor, two truck chassis and packers at a maximum cost of $1.2 million.

The meeting, which will not include a time for the public to be heard, will take place at 6 p.m. in Auburn City Hall's council chambers, 24 South St.

The cost of the machinery would be financed by serial bonds. Councilors will hear Thursday the first reading of the ordinance that would authorize the city to issue the bonds.


New range of skid steer loaders from CASE Construction Equipment
CASE Construction Equipment’s new 400 series 3 line of skid steer loaders, feature more powerful engines, a redesigned cab and improved serviceability.
The eight-model series is powered by clean burning, Tier III certified turbocharged engines that provide increased horsepower, improved torque and enhanced performance across the line.


Kootenai County's Mfg/Construction Career Day April 15
Hundreds of middle school and high school students are signed up for Kootenai County's first-ever Manufacturing and Construction Career Day on April 15 at the county fairgrounds.
Dubbed "Hard Hats, Hammers and Hot Dogs," the event will give young people first-hand information on the many skills and crafts in the manufacturing and construction sectors.
After orientation and under supervision, they will be able to operate heavy equipment if they choose and try their hand at any one of many trades from brick laying and welding to surveying and trim carpentry.