Kleemann national sales manager Ben Lefroy outlines how global economic outcomes have affected the quarrying industry, and what it means for suppliers.
What was the most important lesson from 2024?
One of the most important things is to stay in touch with global and local economic trends. Last year was a bit of a tough one, with quite unusual circumstances. I’m not an economist, though I do keep a close eye on FX rates as it has a large effect to our supply chain to include shipping rates.
It’s also important to watch what other economies are doing, especially in Europe, China, and the US. China has slowed down over the past year, and there has been global inflation, which has effects on our industry and market. While global changes lag, when it hits in Australia, it tends to hit very quickly.
This year has highlighted just how important it is to keep your finger on the pulse to navigate the way through the year ahead.
What were some of the trends you spotted?
High interest rates have slowed businesses down. Governments are pulling funding or slowing funding to major infrastructure projects. It’s no big secret – the Reserve Bank of Australia and governments are deliberately looking to reduce the inflation rate.
We somewhat expected a slowdown, but didn’t expect it to occur as quickly as it has. It’s led to companies downsizing, reducing their capital fleet, and in the worst cases, going into administration.
What is one of the biggest issues facing quarrying
The workforce. As the industry slows down, its existing workforce potentially leave to join other industries. There’s also a lack of younger generations coming through the quarrying industry.
When the industry ramps back up again, trying to find skilled personnel will become a real challenge for the quarrying industry. It’s one of the biggest issues the industry is facing, and it’s something the IQA is addressing.
I sat in on a panel at the IQA conference in Adelaide last year for the next generation of students. There was a spread of people with a range of experience, with recent university graduates, tradespeople, and senior industry figures. There’s definitely a requirement for the next generation to understand what quarrying is. It’s not a dirty word – people don’t understand just how important it is for the community and the economy.
How is your team helping to address this?
We are continuously putting on apprentices and bringing them through the system to fuel the industry in the future, not right now. We have also engaged our parent companies out of Germany to support us with overseas training and get our people up to a level where they can support our customer base. Its is an ongoing challenge, but it’s something that we’re very mindful of, and we’re actively working towards to try and improve that space.
What are you looking forward to?
I’m excited and optimistic about seeing some economic change. I don’t see that in the short term. When we start to see the interest rate cuts, and people start to get a bit more confidence, it’ll be a knock-on effect. We will see the industry releasing the purse strings to grow their teams, whether that’s with equipment or people. From our point of view, we’ve always got exciting things going on, whether it’s new products to market, which allows us to play in new industries. It’s exciting times ahead.
What innovations are you most excited to see develop in 2025?
The digitalisation of data. That’s a driver for us, and something we’re really seeing from all our global brands from the Wirtgen Group, not just Kleemann.
It gives the clients more transparency on job site operations, letting them plan better for maintenance and know when a machine is down. It reduces the operators required to keep plant running, because the machines are talking to each other.
What does Kleemann have planned for 2025?
As a business in Australia, we’re continuing to grow. The global downturn hasn’t ceased our willingness to grow, so we are investing in the future. Now is the time to grow, whether it’s facilities, personnel, or training requirements. •
For more details, visit wirtgen-group.com
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