Australia: The final assembly of a four-axle car, designed to transport iron ore, was completed at the Forrestfield plant. The vehicle was assembled from the components supplied by CRRC’s Qiqihar facility. The first wagons with a payload of 118 t are to be launched in the first half of the year.
A fleet of 100 such vehicles was ordered by the mining company Rio Tinto in 2023. The $92 mln contract spins six years. The first 40 vehicles are to be assembled at the plant in Forrestfield, with the Karratha site, where bearing production and maintenance will also be established, being in charge of the remaining units. Previously, Gemco Rail received a $4.2 mln grant from the LMIF investment fund to upgrade the Forrestfield plant and build a new facility in Karratha.
Currently, CRRC is the primary supplier of freight cars to Australia. In 2023, it executed contracts for the mining companies Fortescue and Roy Hill.
