Pilbara miner drives Austin truck body orders

Western Australian and Queensland operations have heavily contributed to Austin’s order book, with a Pilbara miner placing an order for 78 truck bodies and a Western Australian gold miner ordering eight truck bodies.

A Queensland mining contractor has also requested 12 truck bodies to be manufactured in Austin’s Indonesian facility and a fellow Queensland miner has ordered three stairway access water tanks, also to be built in Indonesia.

With this boost, Austin’s order book and committed work schedule is now more than 70 per cent of expected revenues, in line with the same time in 2019.

The Asia-Pacific region is outperforming expectations, with the Perth and Indonesia workshops keeping busy and remaining close to capacity for the remainder of the 2021 financial year and beyond.

“The Asia-Pacific region is performing exceptionally well at the moment with a strong line of sight keeping our two large facilities in Perth and Indonesia close to capacity,” Austin managing director Peter Forsyth said.

“I am very happy with the level of orders and further opportunities in this region.”

Orders in North and South America have been impacted, however, due to the ongoing COVID-19 position in both regions and the continued backdrop of the recent United States election.

Austin is optimistic this will improve after January, with annual budgets for United States customers replenished and the completion of the presidential transition as President Elect Joe Biden is sworn in.

“The Americas are currently facing challenging operating environments and this is a product of the broader economies in those regions,” Forsyth said.

“I am heartened by the scale of opportunities in the United States, Canada and Chile and we remain confident that the tide will begin to turn early in the New Year in these regions.”