by Adam Daunt

Metso’s Glenn Oldfield led the training course. Image: Metso

Metso has successfully conducted crushing and screening training courses with plans to expand the offering in 2026.  

 Starting at the fundamental level for all competencies, Metso expert Glenn Oldfield is conducting a one-day course on crushing and screening nationwide.  

Metso’s focus was to provide non-partisan training for any quarry industry professionals, aiming to allow better understanding and hopefully optimisation of their plants, whatever the equipment brand.  With more than 30 years with Metso and 17 years before that in the industry on the customer side of the fence, Oldfield’s contribution to the industry is invaluable. 

“Our goal is to grow industry knowledge of the aggregate processing field for the benefit of all. Quarrying is a field we all want to grow and retain staff, by sharing our experience Metso hope to assist in this endeavour,” Metso senior application and project manager for Asia Glenn Oldfield said.    

“So far, we have had a fantastic take up of this opportunity with Boral, Heidelberg, Holcim, Adbri, and many other industry players.” 

 In February, a group of industry leaders from Queensland, including 20 personnel from Boral, participated in Metso’s Crushing and Screening Fundamentals Course. The Boral team comprised quarry managers, supervisors, leading hands, and fixed plant operators. The primary goal of the training sessions was to refresh skills and reinforce fundamental knowledge on this crucial topic. 

 Boral asset manager for SEQ Quarries Michael Long shared his feedback with John O’Reilly and Glenn Oldfield after the training.  

 “The feedback after the session was overwhelmingly positive. The course was well-paced, and the content was delivered excellently by a respected industry expert. Glenn’s style of delivery was unbiased, balanced, and well-informed, providing valuable insights on a range of equipment and processes,” Long said. 

 “The objective of the sessions was to refresh the skills of our key personnel, whose roles include management, supervision, operations, asset care, and quality assurance. 

 “I highly recommend this program to anyone in our industry who is looking for foundational training and an understanding of the basic theory behind crushing and screening technology. It’s a valuable investment for both businesses and individuals.” 

 Institute of Quarrying Australia president Michael Close welcomed the initiative which helps all industry professionals. 

  “I found the course very informative and flowed well for the day. Glenn did say it would be fairly basic content, but with 20-plus years of crushing and screening experience, I still got a lot out of it and takeaways to discuss back with our operations,” he said. 

“I think it is a great training initiative that Metso is providing for the industry “free of charge”, and I fully encourage operations managers, process improvement, quarry managers, site supervisors and plant operators to attend.  

“The content will help provide a skills gap with the aging quarrying workforce. With the mix of people attending the course, further learning and insights are gained as we share our own experiences and issues, making big ones into little ones.”  

Courses will continue around Australia throughout 2025 and expand in 2026 and beyond.  

SGH Ltd (formerly Seven Group Holdings) has revealed it is “excited” about the future of Boral after it released its first-half earning results.

SGH’s first-half results were supported by its full acquisition of Boral, which was completed last year. Its overall revenue of $5.5 billion was up two per cent, driven primarily by WesTrac, which offset “marginally lower revenue” at Boral and Coates.  

SGH’s EBIT of $843 million was up 10 per cent, with Boral’s EBIT of $259m up 29 per cent, helping drive the growth in this area.  

SGH managing director and chief executive officer Ryan Stokes spoke about Boral’s performance in the first-half results.  

“SGH completed the acquisition of Boral early in the half, and I am particularly pleased with their continued progress on the performance journey to achieve mid-teen EBIT margins,” he said. 

“We remain excited about the opportunities we have long identified for further improvement at Boral. We also welcomed a significant number of former Boral shareholders to continue participating in long-term value creation as SGH shareholders. 

Boral’s revenue of $1.8 billion was marginally down for the first half partially because of lower sales volumes in residential construction and roading.  

SGH identified Boral’s cost control, and “internal optimisation” were “instrumental” in delivering the EBIT increase and managing the variable market conditions.  

Boral has started an investment programme to refresh its heavy mobile equipment fleet, it expects this to support production and reduce cost efficiencies.   

SGH stated the robust infrastructure investment outlook, and a positive residential outlook supported by the National Housing Accord targets supported its outlook for Boral.  

“We continue to see solid customer demand across our core sector exposures of Industrials and Energy. The outlook for these sectors, along with our strong HY25 result, gives us confidence in our full-year earnings guidance of high single-digit EBIT growth for FY25,” Stokes said. 

“Together with the leaders of our exceptional businesses, our owner’s mindset underpins the productivity and performance improvement that enabled this strong result.  

“I am also grateful for the efforts of the wider SGH team and their commitment to serving our customers and delivering outcomes.” 

Ashley Grogan

Image: Sundry Photography/stock.adobe.com

Coates has developed a guide to understanding the trends, challenges and opportunities that will shape the construction industry in 2025.

The Australian Construction Industry Forum predicts just 0.9 per cent growth in the construction industry for the year ahead, reflecting slowing economic conditions, cost and inflationary pressure, and continued challenges around the availability of skilled labour.

“Ultimately, 2025 will see a shift in several key trends that shape construction. Critically, we are seeing a compositional shift in investment focus, creating new challenges and opportunities across the industry,” says James Lawrence, group manager – customer and markets at Coates.

This industry outlook explores some of the trends that will define the year ahead and highlights how the rental industry can ease pressure on construction businesses as they navigate the changing landscape.

Growth in engineering construction

Despite slight deceleration in building construction, demand remains strong in engineering construction as the industry moves into a utilities-driven cycle. Investment in large-scale renewable energy infrastructure will drive demand for accommodation, amenities and regional development to support these major projects.

“As the engineering construction boom for long road and rail infrastructure nears its peak, the next phase of growth in renewables, utilities and resources is ramping up,” says Lawrence.

“The push towards net zero is driving a surge in energy transition investment, with large-scale renewable energy generation, transmission and storage projects being constructed across the country.

“With equipment, solutions and expertise that align with the growing activity in these sectors, Coates is well-placed to support construction businesses in exploiting these opportunities. This shift will be a core strength for Coates and its customers in 2025.”

Key takeaways:

• With a forecasted six-fold increase in renewable energy construction over the next five years, utilities will become the biggest sector of the Australian engineering construction market, according to Oxford Economics Australia’s Engineering construction in Australia – Q4 2024 update.
• This growth is shaping state-based demand, with particularly strong growth forecast for Queensland and Western Australia over the next five years.
• Bolstered by a mining rebound, economists also predict that WA will surpass New South Wales to become the largest state for engineering construction activity by the end of the decade, according to Oxford Economics Australia’s Engineering construction in Australia – Q4 2024 update.

Shifting building activity

The commercial and industrial building sectors will experience a decline in growth in 2025. The residential construction sector will also see a slowdown, with Australia’s population-driven housing boom yet to arrive.

“Lingering sentiment in the Australian economy is causing some stagnation to remain, particularly around private investment in building construction. Once this sentiment lifts, the market will start to grow again,” says Lawrence. “Declining activity in these construction markets is expected to be offset by growth in the health, utilities and institutional sectors, including defence projects.”

Changing project geography

A shift in major project location from metro to regional areas is another trend currently shaping the construction industry.

“During the decade-long transport infrastructure boom, Coates supported many of the country’s largest metro-based capital works projects, including Metronet in WA; West Gate Tunnel in Victoria; and the M7-M12 integration in NSW,” says Lawrence. “As focus shifts towards building large-scale renewable energy infrastructure, we are supporting a growing number of projects in regional and remote locations across the country.”

Workforce challenges

Labour shortages will continue to challenge construction businesses in 2025, exacerbated by historically slow productivity gains.

“Coates is focused on helping customers to improve productivity and efficiency,” says Lawrence. “Our turnkey solutions can ease workforce pressures and help customers to transfer some of the risk.”

How can equipment rental support the construction industry amid challenges?

“While the sharp spike in construction material prices has moderated, costs remain high due to tight infrastructure market capacity, increased public debt, and challenges related to the cost of living and wages,” says Lawrence. “Hiring equipment presents a strategic solution for businesses looking to reduce capex, manage costs, and scale up or down quickly as needed.”

Reducing capex, improving cash flow

With rising construction costs, it’s often more cost-effective for businesses to allocate capital to renting instead of purchasing construction equipment.

“By hiring equipment, customers avoid having to make loan repayments or front the full cost of purchased equipment,” says Lawrence. “This approach also creates a more predictable and manageable cost structure to support accelerated decision-making.”

Additional benefits of hiring construction equipment include:

• Mitigating the risk and liability of owned assets
• Shifting the cost and responsibility for maintenance, servicing and insurance to the hire company
• Avoiding the depreciation of owned assets
• Preventing the cost and inconvenience of reselling and/or replacing end-of-life equipment

Circularity and emissions reduction

To deliver major projects, businesses must be able to meet the growing sustainability provisions in construction contracts. Among a wide range of considerations, in 2025 there will be greater focus on circular construction practices and reducing Scope 3 emissions – the indirect greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that occur in a company’s value chain.

“Choosing to hire construction equipment is inherently circular, as the equipment is deployed to multiple projects throughout its lifecycle, improving efficiency and utilisation,” says Lawrence. “Hire equipment also gives customers access to the latest technology and innovation to improve utilisation, inform hire choices and work more sustainably and efficiently.”

Coates is uniquely placed to support customers in reducing their GHG emissions with its Greener Choices range of battery electric, hybrid, solar, low-pollutant engines and biofuel-compatible equipment across categories including access, materials handling and lighting.

“Lighting is a key category on the way to decarbonisation, together with increasing hybridisation of power generation with multiple benefits, including reduced noise and particulate pollution,” says Lawrence. “We are also tackling temporary site accommodation, typically one of the highest energy users on project sites, with a range of more energy-efficient solutions, augmented by renewables and hybrid power sources.”

With one of Australia’s largest fleets, a national branch network and a deep understanding of what it takes to support the delivery of major projects nationwide, Coates looks forward to supporting customers as they navigate 2025.

For support and advice, reach out to Coates today.