Focus on Heavy Machinery Investment

Mining operations incur significant startup costs, and the investments that must be made in heavy machinery are particularly large. Nevertheless, money saved by buying cheaper equipment will often prove to be more costly further down the line due to repair or maintenance downtime, and stalled operations. MAQTEC, a heavy equipment provider based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, has come up with a number of solutions to help mining companies reduce the financial burden of starting out in the industry. “Buying the necessary heavy equipment can represent an investment of millions of dollars in the first two months,” says Marco Orozco Álvarez, CEO of MAQTEC. “The idea is to spread out the cost and expand the sources of credit.” To this end, the company offers payment plans for its customers that extend over 24 months, or longer if necessary, as well as offering its equipment on a rental basis rather than for purchase. The products that MAQTEC distributes that are most in-demand by the mining industry are bulldozers and tractors. The company distributes a number of different brands and is the exclusive distributor for the Chinese brand Shantui in Mexico. “Although this company is Asian the majority of the parts come from Germany, Brazil, and the US, as well as from China,” says Orozco Álvarez. “Since the components are from internationally renowned brands such as Cummins, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Bosch Rexroth and Kawasaki, our customers can find them in any part of Mexico and do not need to get special parts from China if something breaks,” adds Ana Paola Orozco Peña, General Manager of MAQTEC’s International Department

Shantui now has a bulldozer manufacturing plant in Atlanta, Georgia, and MAQTEC is currently processing the permits required to assemble bulldozers in Guadalajara, which will allow the company to lower its costs and meet increasing market demand, both in Jalisco and further afield. “For MAQTEQ, Jalisco represents an excellent opportunity because of its growing status as a center for mining. We always work with new mines, and there is an impressive number of mining projects in the region,” says Orozco Álvarez.