News and media: Press releases

Jan Steyn, Plant Director at Liviero Mining, was one of a number of executives from major South African mining and construction houses that recently returned from an intensive fact-finding visit to Komatsu headquarters in Japan. Liviero Mining is a subsidiary of the Liviero Group, widely recognised as the country’s largest black-owned multidisciplinary construction and mining organisation. It gained entry to the mining industry in 2012, and has since made impressive strides into the coal sector. The current fleet is made up of a wide range of opencast equipment that collectively moves in the region of 40 million banked cubic meters of material a year.

A welcome new addition to the Komatsu range of excavators is the PC700LC-8R SE, specifically introduced as a result of consultation with many operators engaged in the mining industry. According to Manager Sales and Marketing Toshi Ohtsuka, discussions with customers revealed the need for this additional model to fill a perceived gap between the PC600 and the PC850. 

Claudius Martin, the Plant Service Manager of the Bulk Material Supplies (BMS) division of Eskom subsidiary Rotek, is responsible for the care and maintenance of machines vital to the management of power station stockyards.  “Our goal is to keep the lights on,” he says, in a simple statement that belies a complicated set of tasks.

Komatsu South Africa has dramatically increased its share in the local grader market following the delivery of 28 GD675-5 motor graders to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Transport. The fleet represents the biggest single sale of this particular product in southern Africa and one made against stiff competition from several rival manufacturers. According to Komatsu’s General Manager: Sales and Marketing, Mike Helm, a number of key factors contributed to the success – not least Komatsu’s ability to tailor products to meet specific customer requirements.

Earlier this year we were honoured to partner with the Reach for a Dream Foundation which has for many years fulfilled the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses. Reach for a Dream enriches children's lives by making their dreams come true, distracting them from the needles, medication and hospital environment. Some dreams involve going to the seaside or flying in a helicopter or hot air – Bongani Hadebe’s was to get behind the wheel of a haul truck.

Earlier this year Anglo American’s New Vaal Colliery took delivery of a Komatsu PC4000 super shovel, the only one of its kind in the business’s opencast mining fleet. The machine was built at our manufacturing facility in Germany, before being shipped to South Africa in modules. A combined team made up of New Vaal and Komatsu personnel, with support from companies including Cummins and Jormid Electrical, assembled the 400-tonne unit on site.

Our new, state-of-art Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) is now in full operation and is set to further improve our all-important after-sales service offering. The 22,000m² facility is more than 20% larger than its predecessor, and incorporates best practice in warehouse design taken from operations in Japan, Europe and Australia.

Milwaukee, WI, USA – April 5, 2017 – Komatsu America Corp., a subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd. (TYO: 6301) (“Komatsu”) has completed its acquisition of Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY) (“Joy Global”), a worldwide leader in high-productivity mining solutions.

Japan imports over 90% of its natural resources, such as oil, natural gas and iron-ore, and 60% of its food. Trade with developing countries accounts for approximately 60% of imports and 40% of exports, making these nations indispensable partners for Japan. Identified and fostered out of these partnerships is the need to develop African skills and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) is intrinsic to implementing Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes, including the master's degree and internship programme of the ABE Initiative.

An enduring partnership that has thrived for a quarter of a century best describes the relationship between Komatsu and highly-respected earthworks and civils contractor Advance Projects. The story began in 1992 when founding director Aldert Nieuwoudt – together with his brother MC and friend Kobus du Toit – set up their fledgling earthworks business. Starting out with only a handful of people but plenty of ambition, hard work and a careful choice of capital equipment, has seen the business mature and expand as a leader in its field. It’s also worth mentioning that it now provides employment for around 500 people.