yinghui

New dragline rope extends operation

PowerMax PLUS drag rope

WireCo WorldGroup has launched a new range of dragline ropes designed for increased service life in tough mining operations.
WireCo’s new PowerMax PLUS wire rope can increase service life by up to 110%, helping to minimise interruptions and downtime, which can otherwise be costly to any mining operation. The increased service life of the drag ropes translates into a lower overall cost of ownership.
The new PowerMax PLUS increases time intervals between resockets and end-for-ends, which are typical preventative maintenance procedures for draglines.
Designed by WireCo’s research and development engineers, PowerMax PLUS features new wire technology for increased wire toughness that improves abrasion resistance as well as plastic enhancement that protects the rope core from material intrusion and fatigue.
The PowerMax PLUS has been tested extensively in field trials at coal mines in Wyoming, Texas and South Africa, with results showing the drag rope has lasted more than twice as long as previous drag ropes, helping to increase the time between rope replacements.
PowerMax PLUS is part of Union’s PowerMax PLUS family of drag ropes, which also includes PowerMax PFV PLUS, and PowerMax MD PLUS.

In retrospect: The top 100 companies of 2014

In a two-part retrospective, we look back the mining sector in 2014. First we start with the fate of the top 100 miners – some ugly stuff here – but then turn to some more positive and perhaps underappreciated developments.

It wasn’t a good year to be a big miner. Ranking the top 100 mining companies by market cap near year end and tabulating their 52-week share price performance tells the ugly tale (see below). BHP Billiton, still the world’s largest company, shed an astounding $31 billion or 27% of its market cap.

The next seven names at the top were all losers. Rio Tinto and Glencore’s share prices were off by about eight percent; Vale’s dropped 41%; Anglo American’s was down 10%; Norilsk’s was down seven percent; Freeport’s shareprice slumped 37%; and Southern Copper ended close to, but not quite, the even mark.

In looking back on 2014, it’s not hard to account for the share price pain of the top miners. Last year was abysmal for iron ore, oil and coal prices – chief commodities for many of the diversifieds. Meantime, investor sentiment toward the miners and their prospects seemed to reach new lows. In the past couple years, there was a great deal of shuffling in mining management reflecting shareholder unhappiness with business plans, share price returns, thin cash flow and capital expenditure blow outs.

The cratering iron ore price, especially, caught many in the market off guard. Though a decline in iron ore was bound to come, BMO mining analyst Tony Robson notes in an email, “most of us were thinking late 2014 or 2015, not early/mid 2014.”

And he, as others, expected a “steady decline not a savage collapse”. An unprecedented gulf between supply (growing) and demand (slowing) emerged in 2014, one that is by many accounts here to stay.

Some analysts and mining management lambaste the diversifieds for angling to maintain market share through mine expansion. Ivan Glasenberg – chief executive of Glencore – has cut into BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto for their strategy to grow amid an iron ore glut as being ill conceived and bad for business. Likewise, analyst John Tumazos, of John Tumazos Very Independent Research, derides the business strategy.“The iron ore companies are uniquely delusional,” Tumazos says.

He points to clear signs that Chinese steel demand, which dominates iron ore use, is set to be lacklustre relative to supply growth for years to come. But “the guys that own 400 tonne trucks just don’t want to admit it”.Looking beyond iron ore, it was equally tough for some other mining sectors. The major gold miners are well off over the year, especially Barrick. The top gold miner, by production, shed some 30% over the year. Goldcorp, the top gold miner by market cap, was also in negative territory – just. And it was a similar fate for many of the other large gold miners. Newmont was down near 15%. Polyus lost five percent. And so on. If the price of gold wasn’t obliterated in 2014 as in 2013, it muddled along for much of the year. This, combined with investors sceptical of growth plans by the major gold miners, undercut the gold miners.

In uranium – where prices were weak until a recent bump up – it was much the same. Cameco, the leading uranium miner was down 15%.

The legacy of the Fukushima disaster in Japan lingers. As David Talbot, a Dundee Capital Markets analyst, notes, it will likely take a return of Japan reactors to turn the market around. “Japanese restarts will likely be largest issue,” he says.

“Getting Japan back into operation is likely to be a strongly psychological driver – if not necessarily about real demand.”

3D scanning and the future of mining maintenance Part I

Machinery and equipment scanning is providing a whole new aspect on mine site maintenance.

3D laser scanning has been slow to make an appearance in the mining industry.

While it has seen some use in surveying stockpiles autonomously, there had been little uptake.

However, over recent years the use of this technology at mine sites and plants has increased due to the distinct advantages it offers compared with traditional survey methods.

Point cloud data uses a 3D set of vertices represented by X, Y and Z coordinates that is gathered via 3D laser scanners.

Vast numbers of points are collated from a given surface to produce a high point density representation of an area or object.

This becomes particularly relevant to the mining industry in its ability to tackle vast, complex and even underground sites with far greater simplicity and convenience than conventional surveying.

Accuracy, time, and cost efficiency are just some of the benefits laser scanning has to offer.

From a detail design perspective
Point cloud technology, from a detail design point of view, not only makes the job in hand that much easier, but minimises the potential for human error to almost zero.

The captured data provides an ‘as built’ status, giving a real-time snapshot of the site as it currently is and the subsequent data processing that follows has a fast turnaround.

This negates the risk of changes at site affecting plans, drawings and tenders.

The accuracy and coverage of the gathered data eliminates incorrect measurements or the need to make estimations.

In conjunction with CAD technology, specific measurements can be extrapolated to provide exact calculations.

For quality assurance purposes, using the point cloud data against prepared drawings is an excellent tool to clearly identify incompatibilities.

The data also has a multitude of other uses, such as clash detection of existing infrastructure and determining what aspects need to be removed, modified and in which order.

New designs can be reviewed internally and externally with client and maintenance teams, prior to fabrication and installation to identify potential problems and amend accordingly.

Additionally, the 3D point cloud data can be scanned to suit the plant coordinates or even a real-time satellite position.

This allows the new area being modelled to be positioned into Google Earth or any other real-time satellite imagery, allowing site a true aerial preview of the new construction.

Simplicity and convenience
The generation of a 3D replica of a physical object, regardless of size, layout or density can generally be performed while the plant is in production.
Site personnel can continue with site activities as their presence does not interfere with data collection.

This presents huge opportunities as the majority of the site can be surveyed during production without the need to schedule downtime and reduce productivity.

Where interior survey of, for example, a grinding mill is concerned, a short amount of downtime is necessary.

However, by using a laser scanning service such as MillMapper (Scanalyse, now part of Outotec), it’s possible to scan mills in as little as 15 minutes and this can be scheduled to coincide with a planned inspection shutdown.

Both MillMapper and CrusherMapper (used for gyratory crusher analysis) use patented, proprietary software to process laser scanning data, providing 3D files and reports on liner thickness wear and cross-sectional / longitudinal profiles.

Service life projections are given at the average and fastest wearing points.

Localised critical areas of breakage, cracks and uneven wear are highlighted, resulting in significantly improved liner assessment being provided as the total surface is mapped, not just accessible areas.

In terms of safety, both internal and external scanning reduce the need to work at heights or in confined spaces as laser scanners can be placed strategically in vantage points for remote scanning.

While a miner may potentially expect higher up-front costs due to production and manipulation of the data, the net results from minimised downtime alone will offset this cost.

This, coupled with the convenience of the survey, quick procedure and turn-around, along with clear, highly accurate and informative imagery, more than compensate over the course of the entire project.

The fabrication stage also benefits from the inherent precision in plans and drawings which will potentially reduce commissioning time.

A complete plant can be scanned within a day and the data files compiled into one or several 3D models and available to the design team within a short time frame.

High density imaging
The data produced from the millions of points captured in a 3D environment is generally processed via a CAD program.

These high density CAD images offer numerous advantages including versatility.

Sections of an image can be isolated or cut and viewed from any angle in the same way as a 3D CAD model.

The extensive data also provides the same detailed information of surrounding areas.

Exact calculations of space and measurement allow construction, access and craneage around existing infrastructure to be planned well in advance, without the need to revisit the site.

When processed, point cloud data images provide the basis for digital manipulation, giving an accurate, impressive and true representation of the project.

Whether rendered, false or true-coloured, the images are highly detailed.

Every fine point is captured which by any other method may have been missed, including non-documented assets such as cable trays, service piping and on-site modifications.

With so much information readily available in the digital files, time spent sorting through and analysing multiple drawings and site sketches is greatly reduced.

The future of office video conferencing: Microsoft Lync to be combined with Skype

Microsoft is preparing to combine its business-focused Lync video conferencing and instant messaging app with Skype to create a new package called Skype for Business.

The package, set to be released in the first half of 2015, will see the creation of a new Skype-like client app, an upgrade of the Lync server software and updates to the service in Office 365.

While Lync already offers instant messaging and audio calling with Skype users, Skype for Business users will also be able to make video calls to Skype users, as well as access to its user directory.

The Skype for Business app will add a number of key interface elements from Skype, including the icons it uses for calling, adding video and ending a call.

At the same time, Skype for Business will retain the Lync content sharing features many businesses rely on but are not present in Skype.

Businesses running Lync Server 2013 will be able to upgrade to Skype for Business Server without needing any new hardware, while the upgrades will be automatic for businesses subscribing to Lync through Office 365.

The ‘Big Data’ evolution

In the future, people will look back at the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st as being the genesis of ‘big data’. With the birth of the Internet, wireless networking, and the ever-decreasing cost of digital storage, capturing and storing huge amounts of data has become the rule rather than the exception. Along with the development of the Internet, IP networking has made even more data possible as devices never even dreamt of years ago can now be easily connected.

Who would have thought 20 years ago there would be a time where we could go for a run and instantly know how far we’ve gone, where we’ve gone on a map, the calories burnt and altitude gained, all read from a crystal clear screen on a mobile phone not much bigger than your average wallet.

There has been a similar explosion of ‘big data’ in mining, albeit slightly behind that of the Internet revolution, but nonetheless, the amount of data now available from mining equipment is staggering. In fact, there is so much data available people often don’t know which way to turn.

Information overload is not a new term, but its use in the past decade has increased dramatically as the amount of data that fills digital storage grows. Collecting data is one thing; displaying it meaningfully is another. Several large mining companies have attempted to quell the information overload problem through the use of remote operationscentres (ROC) where relevant information from operations thousands of kilometres away is displayed for management review. For other companies where an ROC is not on the agenda, the challenge of disseminating and displaying vital information remains.

In order to show the challenge of ‘big data’, let’s take a specific example and break it down. In open pit mining, seconds are paramount. Whilst seconds may not play a large part in drill and blast (its generally all about metres), in the load and haul cycle a matter of seconds can make or break a production target.

Before my current role I was more familiar with underground mining where metres were king. ‘Metres advanced’ is the metric used in underground development. I never really gave much thought to how much emphasis is given to seconds above the ground but it soon becomes obvious when you break it down. Haul cycles are made up of simple segments: travelling, spotting, loading and hauling (there are other segments like waiting and tipping that can be added but we’ll keep it simple for now).

One haul cycle is the total of these activities in minutes and seconds. Each of these activities can be timed individually using a variety of methods. For most operations, a fleet management system that can detect when each of these activities ends and the next starts can provide this information. For example, when a haul truck is moving along a haul road without a load, it is travelling. When full on the same road, it is hauling. The system knows this based on the GPS position of the truck and if it has a load or not. For spotting, the GPS position is used but it also correlates this with the proximity of a load unit and the selection of reverse gear. If all these are true, then the truck must be spotting. Now that we have a way of breaking the activities down, we also have a way of determining the total cycle time. Likewise, as the activities can be captured individually, we can now also display these individually in a variety of formats such as static reports or dynamic dashboards.

So where do the seconds count? Let’s say a haul cycle is 20 minutes in total and consists of the following breakdown:

Travelling – 5 mins
Spotting – 30 seconds
Loading – 2 minutes
Hauling – 12.5 minutes
Now we have a baseline that we can compare all other data in order to answer questions such as:

Is 20 minutes good?
Can it be improved?
How does this operator compare to the others?
What happens if the haul route changes?
There are many answers to these questions, but they all have one thing in common: only data can provide objective answers. Let’s tackle the first and third questions – by measuring all operators it will soon become apparent whether 20 minutes is good and where the operator sits in the scale of things. Once you have the answer to those questions you can then answer question number two. If the average is in fact 18 minutes, this operator is well below. Why? Again data can provide the answer, or at least point you in the right direction.

And this is where data can also lead you on a wild goose chase.

Having only one source of data may not tell you the full story. What if the reason this haul was 20 minutes was because a shower of rain caused a portion of the haul road to become slippery.

This would only be apparent on one or two hauls as the road would soon drain and dry out, creating a temporary increase in the overall total time. The moral of this example is don’t get too wrapped up in the data you fail to see the ‘truth’.

Let’s go back to question two, as this is where we can really show the power of data. Once the data has been verified, we can focus on the cost savings to be had from reducing the cycle time.

This is where engineering and technology can come together to show the potential benefits of ‘big data’. Let’s target a one minute improvement on the cycle time to keep things simple. As the current cycle time is 20 minutes, three cycles are possible in one hour, therefore there is a three minute saving every hour. In a 12-hour shift there is usually 10 effective hours on average, so therefore with one truck across one shift there is 30 minutes extra – more than enough time for an extra load. Now lets extrapolate that across a fleet of 50 trucks for the year – 1 extra load x 50 trucks x 2 shifts x 365 days = 36,500 extra loads for the year.

Now let’s work out the potential value of these extra loads. We’ll use best case, round figures to make it easy, but you’ll soon see what a one minute saving each load can add up to.

We’ll use a CAT 793F haul truck with a gold grade of 1 gramtonne. A CAT 793F averages 220 tonnes per load, therefore there is potentially 220 grams of gold in each load. 220 x 36,500 = 8.03 million grams which is just over 258,000 troy ounces. At a gold price of Aus$1350ounce that equals Aus$348.3 million. At Aus$200 per ounce profit, that’s a tidy Aus$51.6 million extra profit, all from reducing cycle times by one minute

I did say this was best case – this certainly wouldn’t be the case in the real world as each load isn’t always a premium grade load as there is waste that needs to be moved. There’s a whole host of other factors that would affect the above equation, but it shows the potential of what can be achieved by using ‘big data’.

Now that we’ve seen what ‘big data’ can do for us, the challenge is sharing this information with those decision makers that value the data.

For a production engineer, giving him an extra load per hour is like having another truck in the fleet – something that can’t be physically achieved with spending many millions of dollars. But give it to him for free and he’ll be your next best friend.

And this precisely is the future challenge facing many – how to capture, interpret and display big data in this age of information overload. That sounds like a great topic for another article.

Jason Nitz is a fleet management and dispatch superintendent at Newmont Mining.

This article originally appeared in full at Austmine.

Alcoa in Australia

Alcoa’s Australian operations represent the world’s largest integrated bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting and rolling system. Also operating the country’s largest aluminium recycling plant, Alcoa adds value to Australia’s local, state and national economies at every stage.

Alcoa of Australia operates the mines, refineries and smelters, while Alcoa Australia Rolled Products operates the rolled products plants and recycling operation. Together, these businesses support around 6000 direct jobs, predominantly in regional Australia.

Our operations in Australia include:

Two bauxite mines in Western Australia (Huntly and Willowdale);
Three alumina refineries in Western Australia (Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup);
Two aluminium smelters in Victoria (Point Henry and Portland Aluminium);
Two aluminium rolling mills in Victoria (Point Henry) and NSW (Yennora);
An aluminium recycling plant in New South Wales (Yennora);
Two dedicated port facilities in Western Australia (Kwinana and Bunbury);
A coal mine and power station in Victoria (Anglesea);
Three Alcoa Farmlands sites in Western Australia (Pinjarra, Wagerup and Boddington);
The Marrinup Nursery in Western Australia (for our WA mine site rehabilitation); and
Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline in Western Australia (20% ownership).

Alcoa’s other operations in Australia are Alcoa Wheel Products Australia which distributes aluminium truck wheels and Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings Australia which manufactures and distributes specialist fasteners.

Alcoa of Australia Limited is 60% owned by Alcoa Inc. and 40% by Alumina Limited. Alcoa Australia Rolled Products, Alcoa Wheel Products Australia and Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings Australia are owned 100% by Alcoa Inc.

Alcoa of Australia is part of the primary aluminium production business, with the process starting at the Huntly and Willowdale bauxite mines in the Darling Range south of Perth. The Huntly Mine is the world’s largest bauxite mine. These two mines supply bauxite to Alcoa’s alumina refineries at Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup. The refineries extract alumina from the bauxite. Some of the alumina is exported, while the remainder is shipped to Alcoa’s smelters in Victoria.

Our two aluminium smelters, Point Henry in Geelong and Portland Aluminium in Portland, smelt the alumina into aluminium ingots. Portland Aluminium is an unincorporated joint venture project between Alcoa of Australia Limited (45%) (Alcoa), Eastern Aluminium (Portland) Pty Ltd (10%) (EAPL), CITIC Nominees Pty Limited (22.5%) (Citic) and Marubeni Aluminium Australia Pty Ltd (22.5%)(Marubeni) (“Portland Joint Venture (PJV)”). Eastern Aluminium (Portland) Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa of Australia Limited. Alcoa Portland Aluminium Pty Ltd (Alcoa Portland) (also a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa) manages the smelter.

Our Victorian operations also include a coal mine and power station at Anglesea which supplies around 40% of the electricity needed to power the Point Henry Smelter.

In 2010, Alcoa of Australia mined around 33 million tonnes of bauxite, produced 9 million tonnes of alumina, and 490,000 tonnes of aluminium.

Alcoa produces almost 45% of Australia’s alumina and over 25% of Australia’s aluminium. Our alumina production in Western Australia accounts for 10-11% of total world demand.

Alcoa Australia Rolled Products, at Point Henry in Victoria and Yennora in Western Sydney, produces rolled aluminium products for beverage cans, wine screw tops, pharmaceutical packaging, building materials, road signs and boats. Alcoa Australia Rolled Products is the only manufacturer of aluminium rolled products in Australia and is also the largest recycler of aluminium in the country, recycling around 55,000 tonnes of aluminium each year at Yennora. In 2010, Alcoa Australia Rolled products produced 108,000 tonnes of aluminium rolled products.

Goonyella Riverside Open-cut Mine

Goonyella Riverside is a large open cut coking coal mine in the Bowen Basin. It is one of many coal mines in Central Queensland and is located at Moranbah about 30 km north of the townshop.

Shovel and dragline details on Goonyella.

Goonyella Riverside Mine Expansion (part of the gazetted Bowen Basin Coal Growth Project) was updated on 16 June 2014 here.

Solving the problem of big data accesibility

Mining has well and truly entered the world of big data.

Nearly every aspect of the mining industry, from minute processes through to massive haul truck payloads and warehousing and maintenance activities are measured, tracked, and stored.

ERP software helps many miners deal with these issues and gain both a granular and wider view of their operations.

However, due to the mass of data this generates, coupled with the remote nature of many mines, the need for systems that can deal with level of data while providing multiple access points such as mobile and web is high.

Rio Tinto’s global business services head Scott Singer explained it has had a number of issues with its digital data management, and the need for cloud and web based applications.

“We generate a huge volume of unstructured data and growth rates are expanding significantly,” Singer said, and “like most companies we are not good at ‘hitting the delete key’.”

“Like most businesses we don’t have the core expertise to manage this.”

But this problem doesn’t just affect the majors, from explorers through to mid-level miners as well as their suppliers, all face the issue of dealing with multiple complex business processes throughout a multi-tiered system, with much of it now occurring over many sites all interlinked over the internet.

Dealing with all these factors can cost a business dearly if it not ready or able to adapt to the changing nature of the market.

According to Sage Business Solutions managing director Mike Lorge a recent study carried out by Sage in Europe and North America showed “midmarket companies with improved data accessibility, quality, intelligence, and usability can expect approximately 35 per cent more incremental revenue year over year than lower-performing companies.

Sage Business Solutions has recently launched its latest iteration of its SAGE ERP X3 software – version 7 – which “brings flexibility and an entirely redesigned web and mobile experience, giving all employees the information they need wherever they are,” Sage stated, with Lorge adding

Importantly, the program has scalability allowing the response to grow or contract as work progresses, giving businesses more options as they develop projects or wind down certain operations.

Lorge explained: “As companies grow they can lose agility and profitable growth; Sage’s ERP X3 version 7 provides the tools to simplify and speed up the use of information to revive this growth.”

“The primary focus of developing the new version – which is focused predominately on the mid-market space- was integrating next gen user interfaces; making it web based and device agnostic, and really using the BYOD trend, as we see more consumer trends entering the business software world,” Lorge told Australian Mining.

The new X3 system provides a next generation alternative to Excel spreadsheet systems that many workplaces still use, with the program featuring embedded workflow, integrated businesses intelligence, easy-to-use dashboards, and device independent reporting, which allows for remote access and a BYOD style of operation as well as on site and in the field applications, as it can be used with iOS, Windows phones and most Android devices.

It also allows for global management capabilities, giving operations with multiple sites or global offices, greater integration of workflows.

The software has already been picked up by project and engineering design firm Saitec Australia, which is integrating ERP X3 throughout its business, into its analysis and reporting, financial accounting and management control, and operational management in areas such as production, purchasing, sales, and inventory.

Importantly, it also gives added support in terms of traceability and tracking of compliance and controls, helping businesses to ensure their entire supply chain from start to finish complies to regulations.

Sage Business senior vice president for AAMEA, Keith Fenner, told Australian Mining the new ERP provides a lot of flexibility for businesses.

“For instance, the agility it allows for operators in monitoring and controlling their stocks. As it has an overview of the many different facets of an operation the system can scrape sales, purchasing, and stock information, showing an increased sale of certain parts, compare that against existing stock levels, and that present this upcoming inventory issue,” Fenner said.

“One major miner has adopted it and within 30 days of using X3 for inventory administration they freed up a number of efficiencies, and had a greater visibility as well as better stock/procurement management. On top of this it brought in the concepts of seasonality to their supply chain and provided forecasts for likely demand, which was all based off of existing stock plans.

“These operators are able to now get a granular analysis using X3 version 7, using big data,” he said.

“While most companies can’t change their cost base for operations, with greater visibility they can address efficiency issues and help with stock and IT management.”

This also allows for more predictive, rather than reactive, business decisions and actions.

Lorge added that the latest version of X3 is building the foundation for greater visibility and the ongoing convergence in IT and operational technology currently being seen in Australian industry.

“If you don’t have the right architecture in ERP then your business will find it more difficult to keep up with the changes in compliance and regulation and efficiency developments, you need to get it right at this level otherwise it will add unnecessary cost and delays to operations.

Internet of Things stimulates MEMS market

The explosive expansion of the Internet of things (IoT) is driving rapid demand growth for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices in areas including asset-tracking systems, smart grids and building automation.

Worldwide market revenue for MEMS directly used in industrial IoT equipment will rise to $120 million in 2018, up from $16 million in 2013, according to IHS Technology.
Additional MEMS also will be used to support the deployment of the IoT, such as devices employed in data centers. This indirect market for industrial IoT MEMS will increase to US$214 million in 2018, up from US$43 million in 2013.

The accompanying figure presents the IHS forecast of global MEMS revenue from direct and indirect IoT uses.

Global market shipments for industrial IoT equipment are expected to expand to 7.3 billion units in 2025, up from 1.8 billion in 2013.
The industrial IoT market is a diverse area, comprising equipment such as nodes, controllers and infrastructure, and used in markets ranging from building automation to commercial transport, smart cards, industrial automation, lighting and health. Such gear employs a range of MEMS device types including accelerometers, pressure sensors, timing components and microphones.

“The Internet of things is sometimes called the machine-to-machine (M2M) revolution, and one important class of machines—MEMS—will play an essential role in expansion of the boom of the industrial IoT segment in the coming years,” said Jeremie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst for MEMS and sensors at IHS.
“MEMS sensors allow equipment to gather and digitize real-world data that then can be shared on the Internet. The IoT represents a major new growth opportunity for the MEMS market.”

Australian industry sees weak finish to 2014

Australia’s manufacturing sector ended the year in contraction, according to the Australian Industry Group’s monthly Performance of Manufacturing Index survey.
The Ai Group’s PMI was down 3.2 points overall for the month to 46.9, meaning it slipped back into negative territory after November’s marginally expansionary result.
Any result under 50 in the PMI indicates contraction, and above it, expansion.
“We would have hoped to have seen a stronger Australian PMI in the lead-up to Christmas, but the finding is consistent with other publicly released data,” said the AiG’s chief executive, Innes Willox.
As with November, four of the eight sub-sectors tracked were in growth territory, led by Food, Beverages and Tobacco, which recorded a result of 60.4 (up 1.3 points).
Despite a falling dollar, which meanwhile hit a five-and-a-half-year low this morning, conditions remained difficult for the industry for a number of reasons. These included tight margins, with the input costs sub-index up to 70.3.
“Respondents to the Australian PMI welcomed the further depreciation in the Australian dollar, but noted that the level of the dollar continues to encourage strong import competition,” said Willox.
“Business sentiment and appetite for investment remain weak. The closure of Australian automotive assembly facilities now under way, plus the rapid decline in mining investment activity, are also weighing heavily on demand for locally made machinery inputs and components.”