Experienced mining equipment executives Denis Orlov and Dominic te Wierik say many organisations are playing a long game in mining in Australia, all mindful of a future in which automated non-diesel machines, renewable power microgrids and new suppliers have changed the landscape. SANY is one of them.

“Our group executives know it’s a long game because you’ve got established suppliers and mining companies,” says te Wierik.

“But there is a huge goal at SANY to make it work.

“Step by step is the approach. Get a good product in here and prove its worth. In mining that’s really our focus right now. Denis and I joined earlier this year. We’re growing the team. We’ve got a product that is a stepping stone towards full electrification. We have our unique hybrid trucks coming. Then we can get Australia on a pathway towards decarbonisation.”

Orlov, SANY Group’s key mining accounts general manager, and te Wierik, international mining sales and marketing manager, have spent decades in mining, including with major original equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Bucyrus and Rolls-Royce Power Systems, and managing major mining accounts. They say they have already seen incredible things at SANY, based at Changsha in China’s Hunan province, that they have not experienced elsewhere. Formed in 1989 and now one of the world’s largest construction equipment makers with heavy industry sales last year of circa-US$10.9 billion, SANY operates the first World Economic Forum/McKinsey Lighthouse Factories in China and Indonesia and has a burgeoning heavy industry business listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

Orlov and te Wierik were at the group’s Kunshan Industrial Park excavator factory near Shanghai a few weeks ago with a customer and all three were impressed by the facility’s scale and level of automation. In the time it took to walk one production line they watched an excavator materialise.

“You are standing there and you turn around to have a conversation and another digger goes out the door,” says Orlov.

“I haven’t seen anything like that level of factory automation and I am coming from Caterpillar and Rolls-Royce Power Systems and I was account manager for Hitachi Construction Machinery globally. I thought I’d seen it all.”

SANY entered the Australian market and has been active in the construction segment for about a decade. It has about 3500 machines deployed around the country and has established dealer support networks.

In mining 2025 signals lift-off in Australia. te Wierik says a fleet of 136-tonne-payload (150 short ton) SET150S hybrid rigid-frame mining trucks will arrive in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in the first half of 2026. More than 200 of these vehicles have been supplied elsewhere, mainly in China, Russia and Uzbekistan. Some have more than 15,000 operating hours on them.

A range of diesel and electric mining excavators will follow.

Adapting popular, smaller units to meet Australian standards will help pave the way for the introduction of larger mining machines over the next few years. Orlov and te Wierik are confident the smaller-end entry can help SANY unlock a much larger presence in one of the world’s most important mining equipment and technology markets.

“The SET150S provides good opportunities to focus on middle-tier miners and contractors,” says te Wierik.

Orlov adds: “The 136-tonner represents approximately 10% of total trucks in Australia. But if we look at middle-tier miners it represents closer to 30 or 40% of their population.”

Market tailwinds include the equipment requirements of many new, generally smaller-scale battery and other energy-and-infrastructure-transition metal mines, as well as emerging fleet automation trends. SANY has about 120 autonomous trucks running in China. Many miners around the world see smaller equipment fleets affording greater agility when it comes to automation and electrification, not to mention mine planning.

The previous peak in new surface mining equipment sales, between 2011-2013, also means the industry is moving deeper into a heavy replacement cycle.

“We are optimistic about 2026 and probably more optimistic about 2027 just because we know what that cycle looks like,” te Wierik says.

“A lot of miners are forecasting equipment replacement lead times based on a traditional supplier delivery time. Our lead time is four-to-six months because we’re vertically integrated. Other OEMs are very much dependent on engine suppliers with very big backlogs. There is huge demand for data centre power generation so they’re unable to build engines, particularly large mining equipment engines, as quickly.

“On the large off-highway equipment, you don’t get into the Pilbara iron ore production market without a 240t [short ton: 218-tonne] truck.

“We’re building them now. They’re going to Russia and will start working probably in November or December. We’ll get them ready for the Australian cycle. And then once we start we might bring in one or two for trial and we’ll get runs on the board with that one as well.”

Orlov says hybrid diesel and battery-powered trucks present significant operating and maintenance cost advantages in various applications, including ancillary (such as water trucks). Probably undersold are the dual-engine safety and opex benefits.

“These trucks have some smart design features as well, such as the twin engines; they are interchangeable,” he says.

“The truck is different enough to be relevant in this energy transition period. It’s a hybrid but it’s not too different to require the change management on site. It’s not fully electric yet either, but it’s electric ready. When the technology [need] catches up we will be there.”

SANY at IMARC 2025

Orlov and te Wierik see SANY’s presence at this year’s IMARC 2025 conference and expo in Sydney as a key part of this year’s pronouncement of the company’s ambitions in Australian mining.

“The group has a big focus on international growth,” says te Wierik. “SANY wants to establish a strong mining footprint here in Australia over the next five-plus years that incorporates both product and product support.

“At the start of the year we said we want to build a brand and a presence and we looked at three or four big industry events to help us do that. IMARC is the biggest one in Australia, but I think an important difference is the international audience it attracts, which reflects the nature of the event.

“You’ve got an opportunity to showcase everything and learn more about what is happening in the industry.

“But you have got companies and delegations from all over the world that come together under one roof. It ticks all the boxes when you’re trying to build awareness of your products and what your brand means.”

Orlov says: “The conversations are very important. There are bigger events that don’t have as much of that information sharing and dialogue. It’s a really important time to be having these conversations here in Australia.”

For more information and to register for IMARC 2025, please visit the IMARC Website.

About IMARC: Collaborating on trends in mining, investment and innovation towards a sustainable future

IMARC is the premier gathering for the most influential minds in the mining industry, a dynamic hub where ideas ignite, and inspiration flows – it is the ultimate meeting ground for global industry leaders. As Australia’s largest and most significant mining event, IMARC attracts over 10,000 decision-makers, industry leaders, policymakers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts, innovators, and educators from more than 120 countries. For three action-packed days, attendees will engage in cutting-edge learning, forge valuable deals, and experience unparalleled networking opportunities.