Financial results show industry health

The New Year may not seem so new any more but we are in the season for posting of full year results, so it is difficult not to still think of 2008 as new. From reviewing all the financial figures for last year, 2007 seems to have been another record breaker for most quarry operators with many recording double digit growth in both turnover and profits.

The release of financial results always turns talk to where the growth has come from and why, and in 2007 Eastern Europe and Asia seem to have been the stars of the show. Nonetheless most results there was an air of caution about the downturn in the US residential market and global credit crunch but in general most quarry owners seem to believe that any declines will be offset by growth elsewhere. At 404 ConExpo - which was held in Las Vegas, US in March - I spoke with a senior official from a major quarrying equipment manufacturer and he was adamant that the fears of recession are unfounded. He told me that the industry needs to be careful about not talking itself into a recession and should focus on improving the business. He did not deny that the US residential market is in decline at the moment, but said that the infrastructure sector - in the US and worldwide - is booming and this will continue to drive demand for aggregates.

The rising demand for quarried materials in Asia, and Thailand in particular, has brought us this month's quarry profile. Mike Woof visited Thai Crushing Plant's Chonburi Quarry to find out about the new 1million tonnes per year quarry that has been developed with the latest mineral processing technology to meet the call for construction materials in and around Bangkok.

The equipment distributor that helped set up the quarry said that the equipment being used there is "world class" and she described it as the first facility of its kind in Thailand. With this kind of investment underway it is not hard to see that quarry operators in the region are expecting the demand to continue long term.