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Johannesburg - The steady improvement in global demand for base and precious metals over the past year has had a positive effect on commercial vehicle sales, financier Wesbank said on Monday.
Gerald Burton, general manager for Wesbank's corporate division, said that given South Africa's ailing rail infrastructure, the bulk of the metals mined are still moved by road.
"The market for commercial vehicles (including medium, heavy and ultra-heavy trucks and buses) grew by 16% in 2010 over 2009. From a WesBank perspective our new business was up 23% year on year in this segment of the market."
Burton said that logistics companies are also expanding and
renewing their fleets, which is being fuelled by the general economic recovery.
"This scenario has been beneficial for finance houses, which are experiencing a welcome turnaround in this market segment.
He said that statistics point to a continued improvement from big business, particularly those companies engaged in mining and supporting industries.
"Since late 2009, the mining sector has gathered
momentum - and much of our new business is from logistics companies who need to
expand their fleets to meet new contracts.
"We've also seen an increase in the number of companies
replacing their ageing commercial fleets."
