Business news

ZHODINO, 4 December (BelTA) – The Belarusian supersize haul truck manufacturer BelAZ intends to buy more engines powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. company Cummins within the next two years. The statement was made by BelAZ Director General Piotr Parkhomchik during the solemn function held on 4 December to celebrate 25 years of BelAZ-Cummins cooperation, BelTA has learned.

The BelAZ CEO said: “I would like the gas component to be present in all the engines of our trucks with the carrying capacity of 90-240 tonnes in 2018-2019. There are also other promising avenues of cooperation, which we are discussing with our partner.”

The first BelAZ truck with an LNG engine has already been assembled and is being trialed in Russia.

Piotr Parkhomchik pointed out that in January 2018 Cummins Company intends to consider all the engine sale proposals submitted not only by BelAZ but the Belarusian Industry Ministry. Another meeting will take place soon to sketch out future plans for advancing the bilateral relations.

Cummins Inc. Vice President Norbert Nusterer underlined that 25 years of cooperation with BelAZ represent a fine example of global trade. “Thanks to this cooperation we’ve been able to penetrate global markets and become a serious player,” he remarked.

In 2017 BelAZ doubled engine purchases from the American company in comparison with 2016 due to the rising output of mining vehicles. In 2016 the Belarusian company bought 469 Cummins engines. So far this year BelAZ has bought over 800 engines with various outputs worth over $100 million.

Just like BelAZ vehicles Cummins engines boast excellent operational parameters, fuel economy, reliability, and a long service life in addition to simple and convenient maintenance and repairs. The engines work well in rough climatic conditions ranging from northern latitudes to southern countries such as Angola, Vietnam, Indonesia, and other ones.

Cummins Inc. is an internationally recognized leader in the development and production of diesel engines with the output capacity from 31hp to 5,000hp. BelAZ started buying Cummins engines in 1992 after the usual suppliers suspended their production. The first Cummins engine was installed into a BelAZ truck with the carrying capacity of 110 tonnes. Now the Belarusian manufacturer of haul trucks is Cummins’ main partner in the CIS states. More than 6,000 BelAZ vehicles powered by Cummins engines have been sold to Russia and other CIS states.

The public joint-stock company (OAO) BelAZ is the managing company of the holding company BelAZ. BelAZ is the world’s top manufacturer of haul trucks with a large carrying capacity and an extremely large carrying capacity as well as other heavy transport equipment used in the mining industry and the civil engineering industry.