SKF took home a contract from Transwerk of South Africa to supply tapered bearing units – TBUs – and axleboxes for one train consisting of 68 ore cars. The train is being built for Swedish mining group LKAB. Each car is equipped with eight units from SKF.
SKF has had a close cooperation with MTAB, a subsidiary of LKAB, for the past four years. Together with the Luleå Technical University and SKF’s Engineering and Research Centre in the Netherlands, the team developed a special lubricant that can withstand the arctic climate of northern Sweden. (See article in previous Evolution.)
LKAB has the option to purchase an additional 600 ore cars from Transwerk, which means that an additional 4,800 sets of bearing units and axle boxes are potentially to be supplied by SKF.