Liebherr in Brazil today
Today, Brazil is a major player in many of the industries in which Liebherr is established. In fact, Liebherr in Brazil is one of the largest markets for the entire Liebherr Group. Brazil is the largest aviation market in Latin America, one of the top five mineral producers in the world, and one of the top ten wind energy powers globally. Liebherr in Brazil provides a range of goods and services for these industries with a workforce of more than 1,400 people. The company not only manufactures equipment and components for Liebherr’s earthmoving, mining, components, aerospace and transportation product segments, but also offers sales and support services for all Liebherr equipment sold in the country – whether it is produced in Brazil or imported from elsewhere.
The mining industry in Brazil is vital, making up 2–4 % of the country’s gross domestic product. But it’s also important for the world at large. Besides being the fifth largest producer of mineral commodities, Brazil is also the second largest producer of iron ore and is a market leader in the production of gemstones, gold, bauxite, tin, manganese, quartz and niobium. As such, Liebherr’s mining product segment is a vastly important part of Liebherr Brasil and has been for many decades. In the 1980s, Liebherr Brasil began manufacturing one of Liebherr’s earliest electric excavators: the 150-tonne R 991 E. This innovation was hugely beneficial for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and also helped with the logistics and availability of fuel on site. Liebherr’s smaller class excavators, like the R 9100, are still well received by the Brazilian market today – and not just by the mining industry! The R 9100 is also used in heavy construction applications like hydroelectric power plants and large logistics centres – any projects where a large volume of material must be moved in a very short time. Liebherr’s R 9250 excavator was, and continues to be, a success for medium-sized mines in Brazil. Three of these 250-tonne excavators are actually the longest serving machines of their kind in the world, reaching approximately 70,000 service hours in 13 years of operation! However, as is the norm for Brazil, the needs of customers are changing and businesses have recently expressed interest in Liebherr’s mid-range excavators, such as the R 9400, for high-volume mining projects as a way to increase onsite capacity.
Liebherr Brasil is also a key manufacturing support for Liebherr’s mining product segment internationally. The company has a dedicated manufacturing team of around 50 people responsible for building the chassis for the T 264 haul truck, the fuel tanks and the hydraulic tanks for the T 284 haul trucks and the booms and sticks for both the R 9350 and R 9400 excavators. Since 2019, Liebherr Brasil has manufactured more than 90 T 264 chassis and over 42 booms and sticks for the R 9350 and R 9400. These components have been used for Liebherr machines all over the world.