Belaz wins Swedish Steel Prize 2014
Last year’s winner of the international Swedish Steel Prize was Belaz from Belarus (Fig.). The prize was awarded for the company’s innovative and new construction for axle suspension and slewing bearings for the world’s largest dump truck. The new construction takes full advantage of the properties of high-strength steel. “Belaz has boldly gone beyond the boundaries of what has earlier been considered possible using available technology,” says Gregoire Parenty, Chairman of the jury and Executive Vice President and Head of Market Development SSAB. The current trend within mining and quarry operations across the world is that bigger is better. Demand is high, production must therefore be optimized. Using high-strength steel, the global mining dump truck manufacturer Belaz has created the world’s largest dump truck capable of 20 % higher payload capacity than conventional trucks, whilst minimizing fuel consumption. The Swedish Steel Prize was awarded for the 16th time in conjunction. The other finalists – Santander Equipos from Chile, Timo Penttimies from Finland and Vale from Brazil, were runners-up in the Swedish Steel Prize 2014.
