It seems like 2021 came and quickly left. Australia and the rest of the world are still trying to recover from the havoc the pandemic has left and everyone is learning to navigate the transition from several lock-downs to freedom.
Australia’s international borders have recently reopened, giving us the sense that slowly things are returning back to normal. Families that have waited for nearly two years to be together, finally can look forward to be reunited again.
Although in 2020 our industry experienced many challenges, it wasn’t until the second quarter of 2021 that we really felt the struggles from the COVID-19 crisis. Delays in shipment and logistics, numerous lock-downs in Melbourne, where our HQ is located, and the inability to travel to visit clients and distributers left us mentally exhausted.
However, thanks to our fabulous employees and collaborators we have been capable to keep our business sailing in the right direction. Without a single trip to our clients’ locations, we have managed to increase orders of Suspended Dump Bodies for our customers in England, expand the Suspended Dump Bodies fleet for clients in Zambia and Canada, and obtain orders from new clients in Russia, China, Angola and the Philippines.
Our strong conviction that Duratray International is a solid answer to mines around the world that are looking not only to maximise their performance, but also offer a sustainable alternative in haulage, is what keeps the whole team motivated to reach new markets and keep expanding.
The construction of our new headquarters is testimony of that. We’re proud to announce that by the third quarter of next year we will move to our new facility in Melbourne– a state-of the-art factory and offices that will accommodate for manufacturing functions and a new innovation division that will focus on R&D, mining data analytics, Internet of Things, machine learning and advanced composite materials.
Thanks to the performance of our team within the last years and the continuing support of Invest Victoria, within the Victoria Government, the dream of our new facility has come true and we can’t wait to move in next year.
There are many things to look forward in 2022. We will be able to travel internationally again and reunite with customers and collaborators. We will be exhibiting at MiningWorld Russia 2022 in Moscow in April, visiting our current and future CIS clients . We are also expectant of IMARC in January next year, which will be held at the Melbourne Showgrounds, accommodating more companies than ever before.
Thank you for your commitment to our products, for your loyalty in difficult times and for choosing our cutting-edge technology.
Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2022.
Marcelo Medel
Managing Director
Duratray International
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