Shipments of surface mining equipment showed further strong growth in 2022

Exploration and drilling activity in the global mining market continued to show growth in 2022. Exploration budgets for the major global mining companies exceeded 2021 and 2020 levels, and in fact were the highest since 2013. Over 80% of spending was on exploration of gold and base metals. Drilling activity was also strong in 2022, matching 2021 levels, which were also higher than 2020 and 2021 levels.

The Parker Bay Company deliveries of surface mining equipment to the global mining market on a quarterly basis. Their latest update for Q4 2022 is shown in the graph below and shows how shipments have continued on an upward trend since the second half of 2020.

In Q4, shipments of equipment were over 1,500 units from the manufacturers who provide data and represented a 19% increase on Q3 levels. In value terms, this represented $2.3 billion and a 15% increase on Q3 levels. For 2022 as a whole, shipments of equipment reached just under 5,300 units – an increase of 26% on the previous year and was the highest level since 2013. In value terms, shipments in 2022 reached $8.6 billion representing a 23% increase on 2021 levels.

Parker Bay operate a mining equipment database which includes eight different types of surface mining equipment. Their latest assessment of the machine population suggests more than 89,000 pieces of equipment were active in the global mining market at the end of 2022.

Mining trucks are estimated to account for over 60% of the machine population with over 55,000 in use at the end of 2022. Four equipment types account for over 90% of the machine population and include dozers (over 15,000 machines), hydraulic shovels/excavators (over 5,000 machines) and wheeled loaders (over 4,000 machines).

In the past, prospects for the global mining industry have usually been assessed on the basis of commodity prices, particularly base metals prices. In a changing and more uncertain world, experts are ronmental issues due to climate change. This often refers to the so called ESG agenda, involving environmental, social and governance issues.

As world supply chains look to meet rising demand, this opens up opportunities and needs for the global mining industry to deliver the materials that the world needs. As a result, many are taking the view that short and medium term prospects for the global mining sector are encouraging.