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perating income fell by 57.5 percent from the same time a year before, to JPY60.3 billion, with regard to earnings for the six month period. "This was mostly attributed to reduced sales volume and a shift in the regional makeup of sales in the manufacturing, mining and utility equipment industry, although Komatsu operated to minimize fixed costs." Optimistic mining markets were provided with other markets cited as flat or sluggish or having decreased as gold in CIS and iron ore in Asia and Oceania. Sales of the manufacturing, mining and service equipment company declined by 21.2 percent to JPY876.5 billion from the same duration a year earlier. Profit in the segment dropped 59.8 percent to JPY52.2 billion. "Comatsu also worked to improve the Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) as an attempt to concentrate on value generation by creativity, one of the three foundations of the growth strategy in the mid-term management plan, raising the total number of AHS trucks in service to over 260 units as of 30 September 2020." In addition to enhancing protection and maximizing customer mining activities, Komatsu says it will also continue to encourage mining automation as a way to help mitigate the risks raised by the coronavirus pandemic, such as decreased efficiency. The company also references "the introduction of remote operated loaders and creation of mining platforms" in the corresponding slides. No more specifics have been presented, although it is believed that this applies to teleremote mining shovels.
Komatsu Ltd sees AHS as a major focus to increase mining customer productivity in the Covid-19 era Komatsu Ltd said that combined net revenues across divisions totaled JPY957.7 billion in its recently published six-month study to September 2020, down 21.1 percent from the same duration a year earlier. Demand fell in the manufacturing , mining and utility equipment market, concentrating on North America , Europe & CIS and Asia, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was especially affected. As a consequence, revenue decreased a year ago from the corresponding era.
24 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW December 2020
