Doosan has a widespread sales and service network across India and provides sales, service and parts through a 27-dealer network spread across all states. In a chat with Equipment India, Neeraj Sharan, Director ? Product Support, Doosan Infracore India, throws light on the rock breaker market. Excerpts from the interview.

What is the market potential for hydraulic breakers in terms of size, value and growth patterns?
The rock breaker market in India is growing very fast and this is directly proportional to the growth of the excavator market. As per the data collected from the industry, one rock breaker is sold for every six excavators. The excavator market is expected to grow at a 35 per cent rate; the same is expected of rock breakers. In 2012, the expected size of the rock breaker market is 3,000 units and in terms of value it should be approximately Rs 2,400 million.

What are the major drivers for the growth of this segment?
First, the growth of the rock breaker market is triggered by infrastructure- related investment. Various estimates indicate planned investment of appro?ximately $1 trillion over the next five years. The bulk of this investment will be in areas with high elastic demands for CE (for eg, road, mines and real estate).

Secondly, India is also falling under the world standard in terms of awareness towards environment and safety, hence blasting has been banned at several applications as well as within population limits. This has resulted in the growth of rock breaker use for demolition, mountain cutting and tunneling. Finally, daunting costs and lack of availability of manpower is also driving its growth.

What is the acceptance level for hydraulic breakers in the demolition market segment?
Rock breakers are very much accepted in the demolition market segment mainly due to higher productivity as compared to manual work. High manpower cost and lack of availability of manpower has increased acceptance levels. This is the most cost-effective method of demolition.

Tell us about the range of breakers offered both for the primary and secondary breaking.
Doosan offers a wide range of breakers in two brands: Montabert (For premium range) and Doosan DXB range (middle range).

Montabert (Premium Range): Montabert offers 21 models of rock breakers in four different types: 1) Silver Clip (8 models) for carrier weights ranging from 0.7T to 14T; 2) Middle range (2 models) for carrier weights ranging from 11T to 25T; 3) Two-speed heavy range (7 models) for carrier weights ranging from 18T to 40T; and 4) Variable speed heavy range (4 models) for carrier weights ranging from 18T to 75T.

Doosan DXB: 16 models of breaker with three type of mounting for carrier weights of 1T to 38T.

What are the services offered by Doosan?
Doosan offers a one-stop shop and peace of mind to customers for all type of breaker requirements. Doosan has widespread sales and service network across India and provides sales, service and parts through a 27-dealer network spread across all states. We offer a complete breaker solution and assist the customer in selecting the right breaker for their application. We also offer customised service support and quality service at the site by highly skilled service manpower. Unlike other breaker manufacturers, we ensure and guarantee perfect compatibility between the breaker and the Doosan carrier.

How many units did you sell in 2011? What is the expected sales this fiscal?
In 2011, the number of units sold was only 38 as we were just launching but we are expecting sales of 200 units during 2012 and a 40 per cent growth YoY.

What is the rental scenario for hydraulic breakers?
The rentals market of rock breakers is very small due to the risks involved and the chances of abuse. As an independent attachment, there aren?t too many prospects but there are a few opportunities along with the excavator.

How do you find the competition in this area especially given the fact that there is unrestricted import from LCCs?
There is huge competition in the breaker market due to the presence of countless competitors especially the imports from LCCs. Majority of the LCCs are from Korea. As per the data sourced from Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the total Korean breaker export to India during 2011 was $31 million (2,268 units) with a growth of 48 per cent as compared to 2010.

The competition of rock breakers can be divided into three quality levels. In the high/premium quality segment there are only four players ? Montabert of Doosan, Atlas Capco, Furukawa and Sandvik. In the medium and low quality segment there is huge competition with many players from Korea, China and local manufacturers.

Doosan has products in the premium and medium quality segment. In the premium segment as mentioned earlier, there is not much competition and sales happen solely on brand, application and aftermarket support. But in the medium range, we are facing stiff competition with local and other Korean manufacturers as price is the major decision factor.

What are the challenges faced in this segment?
The major challenge in this segment is the extremely poor knowledge of the customer regarding rock breakers. The customer does not perceive value for technology and hence is always hesitant to pay higher value for better technology. While buying rock breakers, the customer gives less importance to the adverse impact on carriers due to poor quality of rock breakers; also, productivity and cost-per-tonne plays a lesser role while selecting rock breakers, hence high technology rock breaker volume is very limited and purchases are never made looking into the long term perspective. Getting a price for its value is really difficult.

Tell us about the parameters involved in selecting rock breakers.
The parameters for selecting rock breakers can be: excavator brand and model, excavator weight, flow and pressure, energy per blow, breaker weight, application, and requirement of noise level restriction.

FEATURES

• High impact energy, to make every blow count: Energy/blow rating (in J) of the Doosan breaker will often exceed com?petition. High impact energy means greater shock waves into the rock, thus higher chances to break it with fewer repeated blows, resulting in increased productivity.
• Energy recovery system: The energy recovering system increases the striking power by using the energy generated when the piston rebounds. When the breaker is used on hard materials, the energy recovery system automatically increases the breaker frequency to optimise performance.
• Unique valve system: The patented main valve controls the piston movement in order to optimise the striking power.
• Blank fire protection: The dampening system protects against blank firing.
• Robust design: The enhanced welding structure reduces internal torsion and stress and thus improves the durability and lifetime of the breaker.
• Long piston stroke: Long piston strokes are used to maximise impact energy and minimise recoil. Special heat-treated pistons are used to increase durability.
• Patented design for protection against overflow and overpressure.