Metso has expanded its global bulk-materials handling network with the opening of a new regional hub in Cape Town.

The Finnish group supplies technologies, solutions and services to the aggregates, minerals processing and metals refining industries worldwide.

The Cape Town operation adds to the group’s local presence in Centurion, Gauteng.

Metso employs about 160 people at its Centurion head office and expects to have added about 60 employees – largely local hires – at the Cape Town office by year-end.

This will take Metso’s Africa headcount to about 500 by December.

Metso Africa president Ian Barnard says the Cape Town office will serve as a springboard for the group’s port ambitions on the continent, by supporting existing operations and pursuing new opportunities.

He points to markets such as Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique and Namibia as potential growth areas.

In South Africa, Metso’s responsibilities include looking after port equipment at Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) dry-bulk terminals in Saldanha, Gqeberha and Richards Bay.

“It is part of our strategy to be closer to our customers,” says Barnard.

Metso’s African business currently contributes about 10% of global revenue, with an opportunity for this to grow to between 15% and 20%.

“We want to double the contribution from Africa in the next five years,” notes Barnard.

“We can see that African governments are increasingly focused on localisation – on local beneficiation – which creates massive opportunities for a company such as ours.”

Metso chief growth officer Jon Allen says the company has a large installed equipment base in Southern Africa, with many of these aging machines now in need of refurbishment and upgrading.

He says this need also informed Metso’s decision to expand in Cape Town.

Metso is now in year two of a seven-year, R500-million deal with TPT to provide technical support – parts and skills – to equipment at the parastatal’s Saldanha, Gqeberha and Richards Bay dry-bulk terminals.

The iron-ore hub of Saldanha accounts for roughly 70% of Metso’s South Africa ports business.

TPT CEO Jabu Mdaki says part of this agreement required Metso to localise its support functions to reduce sometimes lengthy lead times for parts and/or technical support from Europe or elsewhere.

Previously, shipping times for parts could range from six to eight weeks, while waiting for a newly manufactured part could add another four to five months, TPT chief procurement officer Bhekani Cele explains.

Mdaki says he expects the Cape Town office to cut these lead times significantly, while helping to build a skills base in South Africa and potentially boosting domestic parts production.

He adds that such localisation arrangements are not unique to Metso, noting that TPT has similar agreements with suppliers such as Kalmar and Liebherr.

“We want to see an improvement in equipment reliability at our terminals,” says Mdaki.

“We operate 15 terminals and we need reliable equipment. We want to see fully fledged technical offices in South Africa, with an engineering presence – not just marketing hubs.”

For the financial year just ended, the Saldanha iron-ore terminal reported an estimated preliminary 2% increase in export volumes to just under 52-million tons, says Mdaki.

The aim is to reach a target of between 55-million and 60-million tons a year.

Allen says Metso can help deliver on this target by addressing the challenges many African ports face, such as aging infrastructure, declining throughput, reliability pressures and skills gaps.

One potential response, he says, is Metso’s acquisition of MRA Automation earlier this year.

The company provides automation and digital solutions for bulk-materials handling, particularly at ports and stockyards.

At Australia’s Port Kembla Coal Terminal, for example, MRA enabled a 25% increase in the gross loading rate.

“Our ambition is to bring this capability to ports across Africa,” says Allen.

Metso has served Transnet’s port network for decades in various capacities.

With more than 8 000 bulk materials handling installations worldwide, the group’s offering includes railcar dumpers, apron feeders, belt feeders, conveyors, stacker-reclaimers, ship loaders and unloaders, cable-belt conveyors and smart automation.