Autonomous Mining Equipment Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the autonomous mining equipment market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global autonomous mining equipment market reached a value of nearly $2.8 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.55% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $2.8 billion in 2023 to $4.1 billion in 2028 at a rate of 8.08%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.40% from 2028 and reach $6.4 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from rising labor costs or labor shortages, rapid industrialization and increased demand for critical minerals. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were limited availability of skilled labor.

Going forward, strong economic growth in emerging markets, increasing industry 4 model, increase in mining activities, rise in coal production and consumption will drive the market growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the autonomous mining equipment market in the future include high initial investment costs.

The autonomous mining equipment market is segmented by type into autonomous hauling/mining trucks, autonomous drilling rigs, underground LHD loaders, tunneling equipment and others. The underground LHD loaders market was the largest segment of the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by type, accounting for 40.38% or $1.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the autonomous hauling/mining trucks segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 8.66% during 2023-2028.

The autonomous mining equipment market is segmented by mine into surface mines and underground mines. The surface mines market was the largest segment of the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by mine, accounting for 56.02% or $1.6 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the underground mines segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by mine, at a CAGR of 8.18% during 2023-2028.

The autonomous mining equipment market is segmented by application into metal, coal and other applications. The metal market was the largest segment of the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by application, accounting for 39.53% or $1.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the metal segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 8.62% during 2023-2028.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the autonomous mining equipment market, accounting for 37.71% or $1 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by North America, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the autonomous mining equipment market will be Middle East and Africa where growth will be at CAGRs of 16.20% and 14.36% respectively. These will be followed by South America and Asia Pacific where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 9.44% and 8.71% respectively.

The global autonomous mining equipment market is highly concentrated, with large players dominating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 64.1% of the total market in 2022. The market high concentration can be attributed to the presence of large players in different geographies. Sandvik AB was the largest competitor with a 13.8% share of the market, followed by Caterpillar Inc. with 10.9%, Komatsu Ltd. with 9.7%, Scania AB with 6.6%, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.Ltd with 6.4%, Atlas Copco AB with 4.6%, Volvo AB with 3.8%, Codelco with 3.3%, Rockwell Automation Inc. with 3% and Hexagon AB with 2.1%.

The top opportunities in the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by type will arise in the underground LHD loaders segment, which will gain $546.96 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by mines will arise in the surface mines segment, which will gain $728.24 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the autonomous mining equipment market segmented by application will arise in the metal segment, which will gain $561.16 million of global annual sales by 2028. The autonomous mining equipment market size will gain the most in China at $290.25 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the autonomous mining equipment market include focusing on innovative technologies to develop advanced autonomous vehicles, developing autonomous electric mining trucks to strengthen their product portfolio, focusing on developing and introducing innovative mining equipment such as autonomous and battery-powered underground development drills, developing advanced mapping solutions to enhance the safety of autonomous vehicles, focusing on strategic partnerships and collaborations to improve their financial strength.

Player-adopted strategies in the autonomous mining equipment market include focus on strengthening its business operations through the launch of new product solutions, focus on expanding its business through strategic partnerships.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the autonomous mining equipment companies to focus on innovative autonomous vehicle technologies, focus on autonomous electric mining trucks, focus on autonomous and battery-powered underground development drills, focus on advanced mapping solutions for autonomous vehicles, focus on autonomous hauling/mining trucks, focus on underground mines, focus on strategic partnerships, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on targeting metal sector.