Tell us about your company’s products & services?
ContiTech is one of the largest conveyor belt manufacturers and service providers in the world. We manufacture belts in more than 20 locations worldwide, with one in South Africa, Uitenhage. We can offer the whole range of conveyor belts, including fabric, steel-reinforced, troughed, pipe or PVC belts, as well as a range of special application belts. In addition, we provide belt-related materials and services. Even if we do not produce every product in every plant, our global network of factories enables us to provide every product for any customer worldwide. We are part of the Continental Group, one of the biggest automotive suppliers in the world. You might know our tyres.

Where are your products applied?
A large share of our products are used in the mining industry, underground and above ground. We are also doing business with the cement industry, steel producers, ports, quarries, and any customer that needs belts, including the automotive industry.

What makes your products unique?
Continental ContiTech promotes high-quality, highly engineered products. At the same time, we are close to our customers with our decentralised setup. We have R&D and application engineering available worldwide, so we also adjust easily to specific customer demands. As we are part of the Continental Group, we have enjoy certain advantages regarding the development of our products. We not only process rubber, but also have a hand in electronics. This means we are evolving from being just a pure belt manufacturer and becoming a total solutions provider. We also offer belt-monitoring systems, such as rip detection or splice monitoring, which help our customers run their operations more efficiently and more cost effectively.

Where are your company's products developed?
Our headquarters are in Germany, so we have significant R&D capacity there. One of our R&D centres is in the US, with another one in India, though we have R&D divisions in each and every location, which helps adjust our products according to local conditions and demands. With this setup we ensure a global and stable quality level.

Are ContiTech's products imported or manufactured locally?  
In South Africa we manufacture fabric and steel-reinforced belts with a width of 2 200 mm. All types of needed compounds are available here. We also produce solid PVC woven belts in South Africa. Everything else is imported from one of our worldwide locations. Currently, we are covering about 90% of the demands in South Africa with local production. With our South African setup we recognise the importance of broad-based black economic-empowerment (BBBEE) and, in this regard, we are a Level 3 provider.

On which projects, if any, have your products been used successfully?
We are very proud of having the longest single-flight conveyor belt in the world, made here in South Africa at Sasol Mining (Impumulelo). This conveyor belt is 27 km end-to-end, which means 54 km of belt ST2000. We have supplied this belt in 1 000 m rolls.

Another big project outside South Africa is the expansion of the Chuquicamata copper mine, in Chile. From this project, we received the order for the strongest conveyor belt ever made, an ST10.000, which we are going to deliver in the beginning of 2017.

Are your products exportable?
Yes, we tend to sub-Saharan countries with our sales teams from South Africa. We also produce most of the belts we sell in these countries here in South Africa. We have a dedicated sales team for that area and we also provide belt services to customers in those countries.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
We see the Electra Mining Show as a very important platform to showcase our brand, products and people. As we are part of the Continental Group, you can see not only conveyor belts at our booths, but also power transmission belts, hoses and tyres.