A renewed focus on its mobile crushing and screening business in Africa is resulting in a surge in demand for Sandvik Rock Processing equipment. What makes this growing demand particularly significant, says PC Kruger, Business Line Manager Crushing at Sandvik Rock Processing, is the breadth of application, with the growing fleet now equally supporting mining and quarrying/aggregates sectors, together with their contracting counterparts.
Speaking to Quarrying Africa, Kruger says three regions – Central Africa, West Africa and southern Africa – have particularly enjoyed an increased opportunity capture rate in 2025. In Central Africa – predominantly anchored by Zambia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – large mining units such as the heavy duty UJ440 and the UJ640 mobile jaw crushers are driving the market.
“In southern Africa, we have seen a major uptake of our small to medium sized mobile crushing and screening models, particularly driven by the quarrying/aggregates market. In West Africa, we have seen a growing interest in wheeled units, especially in applications requiring easy, rapid relocation and cost-effectiveness of these electrically-driven models,” says Kruger.
Key growth drivers
Commenting on what the impressive growth in demand could be attributed to, Kruger says a combination of factors has been at the centre of Sandvik’s resurgence in the African mobile crushing and screening market. Firstly, he says, the major competitive edge is the company’s comprehensive range of primary jaw crushers, open and closed-circuit cone crushers and impact crushers, complemented by a large selection of finishing and scalping screens that suit most process needs across applications, from construction and quarrying to large mining projects.
However, says Kruger, “selecting the right product for the right market” has been one of the major growth drivers. Sandvik Rock Processing has conducted thorough market research to identify customer needs, pain points and gaps in existing offerings in each of the regions and then matched these insights with products that offer a compelling value proposition and competitive advantage for the selected market.
“The strategy is to bring specific units that align with market needs in certain regions. For example, in southern Africa, we have identified the 225-tph QJ241 and the 400-tph QJ331 as the ideal jaw crusher models, especially given that this market is currently driven by the quarrying/aggregates market. On the cone crusher front, it is largely the QS332 and the UH440, which will soon be joined by the newly launched QH443E, a fully electric unit,” says Kruger.
Given the accelerated nature of projects and ultimately the fast-tracked procurement decisions in this specific market segment, Kruger says Sandvik places value on keeping stock on the ground. Holding stock ensures immediate product availability, enabling Sandvik to meet customer demand promptly, reduce stockouts and associated lost sales. The constant stock replenishment programme, he says, is supported by the factory to ensure success.
Strong aftermarket footprint
As cost pressures continue to bite, crushing and screening equipment owners are placing greater emphasis on reliable aftermarket support. With 11 legal entities across Africa, Sandvik has local, in-country support structures to ensure speed of service, says Lomave Sukati, Aftermarket Manager – Crushing at Sandvik Rock Processing.
“In addition to our own Sandvik entities, we have an established distributor network which extends our footprint significantly, allowing us to get even closer to the customer. We have in recent times placed a major focus on finding the right partners to get us closer to customers across Africa,” says Sukati.
A case in point is S&R Enterprises, Sandvik’s dedicated distributor for the construction and aggregates industry in southern Africa, which has a specific focus on small to medium-sized static and mobile crushing and screening equipment in the 100-200 tph segment. The appointment of S&R Enterprises in 2024, says Kruger, has provided “extra feet on the ground”.
While Sandvik Rock Processing retains its focus on larger mining customers, S&R Enterprises provides committed support to construction and quarrying customers, as well as mining contracting companies, allowing for rapid response to the market’s needs.
“Having S&R Enterprises on board has freed up our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) resources to allow us to look after the mining and EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management) customers better, while S&R deals with often urgent needs of quarrying and construction customers. These are two different set of customers with different needs, hence the need for two distinct approaches,” says Kruger.
Stephen Smith, MD of S&R Enterprises, says the success in southern Africa has been a collaborative effort between his company and the principal, Sandvik Rock Processing. From the onset of the distributorship agreement, both entities cast a special focus on getting the aftermarket support structure right, and some ten months into the venture, Smith says this has been achieved and has been one of the key pillars of the quick growth.
“From the start, at the core of our strategy was to get the aftermarket regime right, particularly getting the pricing for parts in line with market expectations. We have also tripled our critical parts stock, matching the installed base within our region. Initially, we had a 24-month target to achieve this, but ten months into the distributorship venture, we are way ahead of our targets. This has been one of the biggest contributors to our early success,” says Smith.
Skills development and technology
In addition, there has been a massive investment in skills development, with OEM training provided not only to Sandvik and distributor technicians, but also to customers in all regions. For example, at the time of writing, Sandvik Rock Processing was busy providing certified cone crusher training to clients.
Jaco Benade, Project Manager – Crushing and Screening at Sandvik, says continuous investment in training, especially in a skills-scarce environment such as Africa, ensures safe and effective use of Sandvik products, reduces customer downtime, improves competitiveness and closes a growing skills gap exacerbated by technological change and an ageing workforce.
Another success driver, says Smith, has been a strong emphasis on technology. One of the principal areas of focus has been the adoption of Sandvik My Fleet, which enables data-driven crushing and screening operations. My Fleet provides access to real time data from Sandvik mobile crushers and screens equipment via a portal.
This provides a user-friendly, intuitive dashboard which gives a comprehensive overview of data with a single sign-in. It is a secure cloud-based platform which is easily accessible to all authorised users 24/7/365. The user-friendly interface can be customised to each user’s requirements.
The future
In line with the technology drive, both Kruger and Smith note that the next area of focus is electric crushers and screens. In line with this approach, Sandvik Rock Processing has brought into South Africa its first ever dual-powered machine, a Sandvik QA452e tracked Doublescreen. At the time of writing, the machine was due for delivery to S&R’s customer operating at a flagship dam construction project in Lesotho.
“We are excited about the arrival of our first hybrid machine in South Africa. As we expand our electric drive solutions, we will also be bringing in our first fully electric machine, the UJ443E cone crusher, in October this year. This forms part of our drive towards a more sustainable future and helping our customers to lower their operating costs,” says Kruger.
In response to evolving market needs, Sandvik Rock Processing, in partnership with S&R Enterprises, will place a major focus on semi-static wheeled plants in southern Africa. Smith believes this solution speaks directly to the African market, excluding South Africa, where most of the new aggregate operations are generally temporary setups located close to where infrastructure development projects are taking place.
“Many of the clients in the construction/aggregates market are looking for solutions that allow them to easily relocate their plants to infrastructure development hotspots. Once they get to site, they want to mobilise quickly and start operating immediately. With our Sandvik semi-static wheeled plants, we have the right solution for 100-150 tph capacity requirements,” concludes Smith.
