Market trends: The Terex MPS perspective

Quail

David Quail, regional director for the Americas at Terex Minerals Processing Systems (Terex MPS) sat down with P&Q at the company’s 2018 distributor event in Oklahoma City to share some trends he sees from his seat as a manufacturer.

1.  Interest in modular plants is growing. These offer several benefits that a traditional stationary plant does not, according to Quail.

“It doesn’t require permits to the same extent,” he says. “It can be quickly erected. It allows ease of maintenance. That’s really starting to drive a lot more interest.”

2. Wheeled portable plants are finding a place. To Terex MPS, wheeled portable machines are becoming more competitive with traditional tracked plans.

“I think there was a time in the market where everybody thought the solution to the problem was tracked equipment,” Quail says. “I think a lot of customers are coming to understand that, ultimately, the return on investment of wheeled portable is a much better value proposition because the initial investment is lower, the cost of maintenance is lower, the production capacity is higher and the residual value, in most cases, is higher.”

Some customers will transition from wheeled portable plants to modular plants once capacity reaches a certain level, he adds.

“When capacity requires it, they are putting in modular equipment,” Quail says. “It’s easy to upgrade. They’re not stuck when the market changes or if they want to redeploy in a different area. It’s going to take a couple of days, but you can redeploy it.”

3. Producers are moving toward electric plants. Environmental concerns and increasing regulation are putting new challenges on diesel engines, Quail says. That’s driving much of the interest in this area.