BACIF can match the quality of fabricated mining equipment being imported by Brazilian miners

Works Superintendent of the Brass, Aluminium and Cast Iron Foundry Ltd (BACIF) Rondel Ally has told Stabroek Business that the local foundry can match the quality of the fabricated components being imported by Brazilian miners operating in Guyana and that the company is seeking to improve its share in that market.

“There is an increasing Brazilian presence in the local mining industry and most of their equipment is brought across the border, I believe that BACIF can match the quality of the Brazilian imports and there is no reason why we cannot be competent and reliable suppliers,” Ally told Stabroek Business.

BACIF manufactures a wide range of ferrous and non-ferrous castings, gears and couplings used in the local industrial sector and the company’s major clients in Guyana include the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) and the bauxite, rice and fishing industries. The company has also secured a number of contracts with the George-town City Council for the refurbishment of sluices and is currently effecting repairs to the Kitty drainage pump.

Ally told Stabroek Business that while the company has secured a share of the market for equipment used by local miners it was still seeking secure contracts for the manufacture of some of the equipment imported into Guyana by foreign mining companies.

Recently, BACIF secured an important breakthrough on the regional market with the signing of a contract with the Barbados Agricultural Manu-facturing Association under which the company will manufacture a number of important components for the sugar industry in Barbados including sugar pumps, vacuum pumps, impellers and gears used in factory opera- tions. BACIF is also seeking to make similar inroads into the sugar industry in Jamaica and when Stabroek Business spoke with Ally the company’s General Manager Peter Pompey was in Kingston holding discussions with businessmen there.

According to Ally while the Company’s interest in the regional market predated the advent of the Caricom Single Market (CSM) in January this year the removal of barriers afforded by the advent of the CSM had resulted in a more aggressive drive to expand its market share in the region. When Stabroek Business spoke with Ally the Company’s General Manager Peter Pompey was in Jamaica on a mission designed to secure new contracts in that country’s sugar industry.

Ally told Stabroek Business that the shipping arrangements out of Guyana were perhaps the most critical challenge confronting BACIF in its quest to increase the size of its overseas market. He explained that since most of the shipping lines moving cargo out of Guyana do not accept “break bulk” the com-pany needed to ship an entire container in order to access the shipping lines. “We are hoping that the Caricom Single Market will bring with it more reliable shipping arrangements because reliable delivery arrangements is a major factor in market acquisition and retention.”

The BACIF Works Manager told Stabroek Business that consistent with its thrust to make further inroads into the international market the company was placing greater emphasis on quality assurance.

“We are working with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards to have ISO 9001 quality assurance implemented in BACIF since we recognize that both our local and external markets can be enhanced if we can offer that level of quality assurance,” Ally said.

Source: www.stabroeknews.com