South Africa-based mining equipment supplier Weba Chute Systems has appointed Russian polyurethane producer Somex as its licensee in Russia, the company said on Tuesday.
Weba Chute’s managing director Mark Baller says the selection of Somex as its partner in Russia is in line with the company’s long-term goal of a sustainable international business model.
“We have always been very selective about the markets which we enter,” Baller says. “We obviously seek those markets that offer the greatest potential, partnering with companies that have the best possible fit to ensure a sustainable future there.”
According to Baller, this approach has proved very successful for the business and Weba Chute already has extensive representation across the globe with licensees and agents in the U.S., Canada, South America, Turkey, and Australia, as well as throughout Africa.
“When we identified Russia as a prospective market for us, Somex was a partner that fulfilled our demanding requirements,” he says. “Somex operates 20 offices across the Russian territory and has an extensive range of products and services which have synergy with our custom engineered chute and transfer systems.”
Baller highlights that Somex also has a solid engineering capability with manufacturing facilities that produce quality products, as well as an extensive sales network across a spectrum of industries where bulk materials need to be transferred.
“Russia is important because it is one of the largest producers of raw materials globally, with a relatively untapped market where Weba Chute Systems would be of immediate benefit to many operations,” he said.
“Many of the plants that we visited in Russia are state-of-the-art facilities with high tech equipment and best practice efficiencies. However, on the materials handling side, there is a huge need for improvement and we can bring the skills and technical knowledge to optimize these operations,” Baller added.
