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Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Marhowrah plant set to ship first heavy-haul locomotive to Guinea
Patna: Bihar's Marhowrah-based diesel locomotive factory (DLF) is poised to export its first heavy-haul locomotive to the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. The first shipment is scheduled to be dispatched via Gujarat's Mundra Port in the first week of June, a senior official said. The DLF recently secured its maiden export order worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore to manufacture 140 Evolution Series diesel locomotives for the Republic of Guinea. On Monday, it unveiled its first export-ready diesel locomotive during a special event at its Marhowrah facility. The DLF, a joint venture between American firm Wabtec Corporation and Indian Railways , was established to produce 1,000 high-power freight locomotives over a decade, specifically designed to run on Indian railway tracks. It began manufacturing locomotives for Indian Railways in Sept 2018. The Wabtec Corporation, in collaboration with Rio Tinto SimFer, a joint venture involving the Government of the Republic of Guinea, Rio Tinto and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH), celebrated the unveiling of the first Evolution Series ES43ACi locomotive for the TransGuinéen Railway at the Marhowrah facility on Monday. "It is part of SimFer's 2024 locomotive order to support the rail operations for the Simandou high-grade iron ore project, which is Africa's largest mining and infrastructure development project," a Wabtec official said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How three Filipino cardinals eligible to be the next pope remember Pope Francis CNA Read More Undo The event was attended by delegations from the govts of Guinea, India and the United States, as well as executives from Rio Tinto SimFer, Indian Railways, and Wabtec. The showcased locomotive featured the striking blue and turquoise livery of La Compagnie de TransGuinéen. "It is an honour to celebrate this milestone with our partners as we supply the advanced locomotives needed to meet the demands of the world's largest untapped high-grade iron mine," said Mpilo Dlamini, Wabtec's regional vice president for Sub-Saharan Africa. "This unveiling is a tribute to a global team that designed and built a locomotive specifically tailored for the Simandou project," he added. The occasion also commemorated the first and largest export order for heavy-haul locomotives produced at the Marhowrah plant, which has already delivered more than 700 out of the planned 1,000 locomotives to Indian Railways.
United News of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- United News of India
Wabtec, SimFer unveil first Simandou locomotive
Marhowra (Bihar), May 27 (UNI) Wabtec Corporation and Rio Tinto SimFer on Tuesday unveiled the first Evolution Series ES43ACi locomotive built for the landmark Simandou high-grade iron ore project in Guinea, marking a significant milestone in one of Africa's largest mining and infrastructure ventures. The unveiling ceremony, held at Wabtec's manufacturing facility in Marhowra, witnessed participation from delegations representing the governments of India, Guinea and the United States, as well as senior executives from Rio Tinto SimFer, Indian Railways and Wabtec. The locomotive, part of a 2024 order under SimFer's rolling stock procurement plan, will serve the TransGuinéen Railway, a 600-km multi-use corridor that will link the mineral-rich Simandou range in southeast Guinea to a port in the Forécariah prefecture. Donning the distinctive blue and turquoise livery of La Compagnie de TransGuinéen, the operator of the Simandou Railway, the locomotive represents the first and largest heavy-haul export order from Wabtec's Marhowra facility. 'This locomotive symbolizes a major step in our strategy to connect the Simandou project to the world, while bringing opportunities to the people of Guinea,' said Charles Zimmermann, Global Head of Projects for Rio Tinto. 'It is critical for transporting the high-grade iron ore to global markets and reflects Wabtec's important role in this transformative project.' Wabtec's ES43ACi locomotive features a 4,500-horsepower Evolution Series diesel engine developed in the United States. Engineered for efficiency and performance in high-temperature environments, the locomotive is tailored to the operational demands of heavy-haul mining in Guinea. Speaking on the occasion, Mpilo Dlamini, Regional Vice President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Wabtec, said: 'This unveiling is a tribute to a global team that designed and built a locomotive specifically for the Simandou project. These locomotives will not only enable the efficient export of critical minerals but also catalyse socio-economic development along the infrastructure corridor.' A joint venture between the Government of Guinea, Rio Tinto and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH), SimFer aims to tap into an estimated 1.5 billion tonnes of world-class iron ore reserves in the Simandou range. The integrated mine-rail-port development is expected to significantly boost Guinea's GDP and regional connectivity. The ceremony also underlined India's growing role in global infrastructure supply chains, with Marhowra emerging as a key manufacturing hub for high-performance rail technology. UNI BDN GNK 1534
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Guinea's vast Simandou mine on track to start delivering for Chinese investors
After almost three decades of false starts, the massive Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea is on track to deliver a significant breakthrough this year to its Chinese investors and British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. US-based rail manufacturer Wabtec has secured deals worth US$525 million to supply the locomotives that will deliver the first shipments from the Simandou mountain range in the remote forests of southeastern Guinea to the ports. Simandou, the world's largest known undeveloped reserve of high-grade iron ore, is strategically important to China, which aims to diversify its suppliers from Australia and Brazil, that together account for about 80 per cent of seaborne exports. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Wabtec said it had won a US$248 million deal to supply locomotives to Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), which is developing blocks 1 and 2 of the concession, covering an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of reserves with an iron content of more than 65.5 per cent. WCS shareholders include Winning International Group of Singapore, China Shandong Weiqiao Group and the state-owned China Baowu Steel Group. Baowu, China's largest steelmaker, has interests in the southern and northern parts of Simandou. In June last year, Baowu Resources completed the acquisition of a 49 per cent share of WCS mine and infrastructure projects. Simandou's remaining blocks 3 and 4 are owned by Rio Tinto as part of its Simfer joint venture with the Chinese firm Chalco Iron Ore Holdings and the Guinean government. First production from the Simfer mine is expected in 2025, ramping up over 30 months to an annualised capacity of 60 million tonnes per year, according to Rio Tinto. Wabtec agreed a few months ago to supply Simfer with a US$277 million locomotive fleet. After almost three decades of false starts, Guinea's massive Simandou iron ore mine is on track to deliver its first shipment this year. Photo: Rio Tinto Simfer alt=After almost three decades of false starts, Guinea's massive Simandou iron ore mine is on track to deliver its first shipment this year. Photo: Rio Tinto Simfer> Announcing the latest agreement in January, Mpilo Dlamini, Wabtec's regional vice-president of sub-Saharan Africa, said that Simandou "represents a transformational economic opportunity for Guinea". "We are also committed to the development of Guinea by fostering local employment, developing indigenous talent, and empowering local businesses to support the operation and maintenance of this vital rail network," he said. Zhang Cheng, chief executive of WCS, said the locomotive order was "another important milestone for the Simandou project". "As work continues to build the TransGuineen railway, we will have the equipment resources in place that support the high international standards that we've committed to deliver," he said. Wabtec said deliveries of its locomotives will begin later this year. The railway connecting the Simandou mine and the port of Morebaya 600km (373 miles) away is expected to be completed and running by the end of 2025. At an estimated US$20 billion, the development of the mine and its associated infrastructure is the largest greenfield investment of its kind in Africa. "Simandou will bring about 120 million tonnes of iron ore to the market, positioning Guinea as the third largest iron ore exporters around the globe," said Liz Gao, senior analyst in iron ore at commodities consultancy CRU Group, in an interview with the Post. According to Gao, when Simandou becomes operational, it will probably replace some Brazilian and Australian iron ore shipments to China, although they will still maintain a dominant position. Lauren Johnston, a China-Africa specialist and associate professor at the University of Sydney's China Studies Centre, said the investments in Africa point to China's determination to de-risk its iron ore supplies. In particular, China wants to de-risk away from Australia, which for some time has been the country's dominant supplier of iron ore, according to Johnston. With Chinese companies holding higher combined stakes from the two mining concessions at Simandou, most of the iron ore it produces could be exported to China - the world's largest consumer of the resource and biggest steel producer. Simfer is developing blocks 3 and 4 of the Simandou project into a 60 million tonne per year operation, with WCS planning to ship a similar quantity of iron ore from its facility, according to Rio Tinto. Simfer is building a 70km (43.5-mile) spur rail line and a 60 million tonne per year transshipment vessel port. WCS will construct the dual track main rail line, a 16km (10-mile) spur rail line and a 60 million tonne per year barge port. Once complete, all co-developed infrastructure and rolling stock will be transferred to and operated by the Compagnie du Transguineen (CTG) joint venture, in which Simfer and WCS each hold a 42.5 per cent equity stake. Ownership of the rail and port infrastructure will transfer from CTG to the Guinean state after 35 years of operation. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
