According to a report published by Lucintel, the global mining equipment industry is expected to reach an estimated $80.8 billion by 2021, and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.3% from 2016 to 2021.

The major drivers of growth for this industry are increasing coal and metal exploration and growth in manufacturing activities.

In this market, surface mining equipment, underground mining machinery, drills and breaker, crushing, pulverizing, screening equipment, mineral processing machinery and parts and attachment are the major segments. On the basis of its research, Lucintel forecasts that the crushing, pulverizing and screening equipment segment is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021 due to resource exploration and increasing mining activity.

Within the global mining equipment industry, the surface mining equipment segment is expected to remain the largest market. The shift of mining operations to geographical terrain is the major factor that would spur growth for this segment over the forecast period. Surface mining is more prevalent, due to increasing adoption of mining techniques like strip mining and open pit mining. By application type, metal is expected to remain the largest segment, due to higher domestic demand and large scale urbanization in emerging economies like India and China.

APAC is expected to remain the largest market due to increasing coal and metal exploration activities for power generation and rising metal consumption due to large scale infrastructure development.

Asia Pacific and the rest of the world are expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period because of higher domestic demand for coal and steel, the presence of large mineral reserves and investor friendly mining regulations.

For business expansion, Lucintel’s report suggests innovation and new product development, particularly in terms of energy-efficient equipment, digital operator displays, high mobility and safety features and equipment with integrated scrubbers for effective dust control to make mining operations more efficient and cost effective.

Emerging trends which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry include the development of underground automation systems, the introduction of automatic power crushers and multi-functional excavators, the use of hybrid electric motors, rail-veyor technology for bulk material haulage solutions. Caterpillar, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu, Joy Global and Atlas Copco are the major mining equipment manufacturers in the global mining equipment industry. Some companies are also pursuing mergers and acquisitions as strategic initiatives for driving growth.