MB holds over 90 per cent of the global market share in the bucket crusher space. Piero Guizzetti, CEO, MB India, elaborates more on the crushing and screening market in India and the company's outlook.

How do you look at the current market scenario of crushing and screening equipment in India?
Our market is highly correlated to overall infrastructure development which is seeing considerable improvement in the overall ecosystem, from bidding procedures to financing, public sector fund allocations and so forth. Specific to the crushing industry, there is still a low level of mechanisation, but we are seeing rapid changes to this. An important contributor is the consumer's shift from an evaluation based solely on capex, to operating and total life cycle cost. We are in tune with the value sensitivity of the Indian customer, which is far different from price sensitivity. As we go forward, we are confident that mobile crushing and screening solutions will continue to make inroads in new application areas. It will also start to replace traditional crushing solutions in some cases, whereby the added utility of the products provides additional revenue streams to the client and decreases idle time of the investment.

Which segments drive the demand for crushers and screens?
At the macro level, crushing and screening solutions are driven by the construction, mining and demolition industries. Crushing and screening is primarily considered in procurement decisions for requirements related to drainage or base materials for foundations and roads. However, with the unique utility and features of MB's product range, we are also finding new areas of application. The Indian consumer is increasingly interested in understanding the economic feasibility of our products as they receive positive feedback from the exponential rise of our installed base in the country. We believe that the overall crushing and screening industry will continue to remain highly dependent on the traditional aggregate industries. We distinguish ourselves by being perfectly compatible with traditional requirements while also satisfying previously unmet demands via the mobility of our products and efficiency even in hard to reach areas and construction sites where space is limited.

Could you elaborate on MB's crushing and screening solutions? What are the significant features and advantages?
First and foremost, we brag over 90 per cent of global market share in the bucket crusher space. Hence, our clients can be certain that they are getting a product that has been built through research and innovation, based on an unparalleled number of experiences gathered from all corners of the world and used on all types of materials and applications.

MB products are produced using only the highest quality materials to ensure performance and durability. Our design focuses on flexibility and ease of operations. Once an MB product is installed on site, an operator is able to independently adjust output size and other performance parameters without any sort of additional support. This ensures reliability even in the most far off corners of India.

As a complete provider to our customer, we are also the only player in India in our specific product category to have a fully local set-up. Hence, our clients receive the support of our dealers as well as our direct support throughout our engagement with them; from product configuration to installation and service.

What are the new technologies on offer?
We have recently launched our new fourth series of product range, which build on our previous experiences and customer feedback. The new series has an even greater balance that enhances operator performance and puts lesser strain on the excavator or loader. We have also taken into consideration the specific needs related to the types of material we have encountered in India and enhanced the jaw crusher system configuration to further enhance its performance.

How do you look at the market of crushers and screens in the next five years?
We expect the mobile crushing and screening market to continue making inroads in application areas where traditional static or other mobile crushing solutions have been successful. As the awareness of our crushing and screening solutions increases amongst our addressable market, we are confident that we will start seeing a healthy pipeline of unsolicited queries coming from the market. India is a vast and diverse country in terms of territory. There are certain regions where transportation costs and space constraints make MB products an economically advantageous solution. Of course, the overall recovery of the mining sector will also have a major impetus to demand growth.

Finally, we also see an opportunity with smaller contractors as they integrate themselves and become less dependent on third-party suppliers for materials such as aggregates. Our solutions, with capex investment levels much inferior to traditional crushing and screening solutions, will be a good opportunity for them to do so, while leveraging the diverse applications for which MB products may be used and hence in turn absorb the investment via diversified means.