Sales of mining in the Russian Federation are reduced due to growth in purchase costs
Mining companies reduced the purchase of mining equipment for ground and underground work in 2024-the first quarter of 2025. The reason is the increase in the cost of equipment by about 30%. Market participants are expected to restore demand in the second half of this year, indicating the need to update Chinese equipment.
Sales of mining equipment for ground and underground work in the Russian Federation, according to the results of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, were reduced due to the growth of purchase costs, the Kommersant survey showed the mining, leasing companies and manufacturers of equipment. The Managing Director of Alfa Leasing Group of Companies Maxim Agadzhanov celebrates the reduction of the number of leasing transactions last year in the medium-tonnage and heavy equipment segment for a third year by the year. In January and February, according to him, the number of saddles, semi -trailers and dump trucks transferred to leasing decreased. As Mr. Agadzhanov points out, the industry participants postpone the update of the parks due to the increase in the cost of equipment, high credit rates, increased costs for spare parts, maintenance of equipment and fuel. According to his estimates, in general, the costs of this article increased by about 30%per year.
In mining companies, they say that they change approaches to working with equipment. According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, the industry more often abandon the contractors, acquire equipment in property and serve it themselves. The gold mining holding Seligdar reported that they were using about 120 units of their own equipment and about 340 units of contracting equipment. “Polymetall” and “Pole” work with their own park. The participation of contracting organizations decreased primarily in ensuring drilling, drilling work, excavation, the interlocutor of Kommersant in one of the mining companies lists.
Some companies can still be beneficial leasing, but when the price is overstated, it is preferable to wait out, if possible, the interlocutors of Kommersant indicate. The managing director of the NRA rating service Sergei Grishunin says that leasing companies can offer the miners quite attractive conditions, such as the lack of advances, delay and cylinder payment after a few years (in this case, a large part of the loan is repaid last). “But all this is available only to companies with a low level of limiting,” he indicates.
Now about 3.5 thousand units of mining equipment operate at the enterprises, follows from a survey of companies conducted by Kommersant. The mining market at the end of 2024 is estimated at NRA at about 200 billion rubles. On average, 300 units are subject to the average annual replacement, which have failed and are not subject to repairs. But now this share can be higher, since the deadline for using the old technology has lengthened, and the wear of Chinese and Indian analogues is coming faster, especially when it comes to budget options, the interlocutors of Kommersant say. Today, from 10% to 15% of the mountain equipment fleet should be replaced annually due to the wear of wear, said Ilya Makarov, director of the corporate ratings of Akra. He estimates the costs of the purchase of such a number of equipment at about $ 2 billion.
According to Sergei Grishunin, Chinese mining equipment today occupies 80–90% of the Russian market in various nomenclature, mainly the XCMG, Sany and Liugong brands. Indian -made drilling machines are also in demand, added to Seligdar. But Chinese cars do not cope with all climatic working conditions, market participants say. And Russian projects, such as the release of modified models of heavy bulldozers T25, T35, T40 at the Cheboksary Aggregate Plant, are not massive. Norilsk Nickel, for example, against this background, agreed on the production of underground dump trucks and loading and derivatives vehicles with BelAZ (see Kommersant on January 24).
According to Kommersant’s interlocutors in mining companies, there are problems primarily with heavy equipment (excavators, bulldozers, career dump trucks, drilling). “The supply of such equipment through parallel imports is significantly more expensive and longer, and are also not accompanied by warranty support and the supply of spare parts,” they say. And equipment from friendly countries continues, the sources of Kommersant continue, consist mainly of components that fall under the sanctions. At the beginning of 2025, the mining industry lacked bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators, confirm Alfa Leasing Group of Companies.
The commercial director of Interlizing Sergey Zharkov indicates that, despite the expectation of economics cooling, mining enterprises retain production plans, which will require the equipment, which will stimulate the further moderate growth of the segment. Moreover, he clarifies, not all companies, probably counting on a decrease in bets in 2025, managed to update the park last year, until the utilsbor is increased.
The Polymetall says that in 2025 they plan to acquire 109 units of equipment. We are talking about excavators, bulldozers, loaders, carcasses, motor graders, loading and renting, auxiliary machines. For the first quarter of this year, the company has already acquired 20 units of equipment.
An additional incentive for restoration of demand will also be that from the middle of this year the subsidy of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will operate on Russian -made wheelbakes, Maxim Agadzhanov believes. According to him, the supply of Russian excavators and excavators-loaders in January-February 2025 had already doubled and 42% of the year, respectively. The shipments of Russian caterpillar bulldozers increased by 57%, the expert adds. However, the entire market of mountain equipment is hardly growing above 3%, it is believed in NRA.
