Kiruna Utility Vehicles has signed its first order

Kiruna Truck Vehicle will once again be manufactured in Kiruna. Kiruna Utility Vehicles’ first manufacturing order comes from Finland. The company that was formed in 2012, through the acquisition of parts of Kiruna Truck’s product line, is to deliver a Slag Hauler SH60 to the Finnish transport company Pentti Hämeenaho Oy.

Pentti Hämeenaho Oy operates at the Raahe steel mill through a contract with steel giant Rautaruukki (Ruukki), which is nowpart of SSAB. The company already has two similar trucks of the proven Kiruna Truck model and has now chosen to acquire a third.

“That Pentti Hämeenaho Oy has chosen to buy a third truck from our range is proof that our trucks work well and that we have a strong product portfolio,” says Kenth Mukka, CEO at Kiruna Utility Vehicles.

The last truck was delivered in 2006 and has clocked 42,000 hours so far. A further twenty trucks of the same model are presently in use at steel mills around the world. The model is thus very well tested but will, among other things, be updated with a more eco-friendly engine with AdBlue tanks that meet current emission standards.

Kiruna Utility Vehicles secured the export order in international competition and the deal is regarded as a mile- stone in the NMV Group’s strategic development into a competitive player in the international market. Besides Kiruna Utility Vehicles, the NMV Group is comprised of six companies, among them Kiruna Wagon which in May 2013 signed a contract for 40 ore wagons for Norwegian mining company Rana Gruber AS.

“For nearly 10 years we have made long-term investments with the goal of reaching the international market with our products,” says Niklas Pääjärvi, CEO at Nybergs Mekaniska Verkstad which is the parent company of the NMV Group.

The export of Slag Hauler SH60 to Finland is a significant order for Kiruna Utility Vehicles, equivalent to about twenty full-time employments. The truck is one of the models designed and manufactured by the company Kiruna Truck wich in 1998 was acquired by GIA Industrier in Grängesberg.