Boral supplied cement to help construct Australian icons like the Sydney Opera House and Parliament House in Canberra. Now it’s investing more in its mobile assets and solutions to continue to build Australia.
Boral has launched one of its most significant asset renewal programs in recent history, focusing on heavy mobile equipment (HME) to improve on operator safety, reliability and optimisation of assets.
“Since December, we’ve commenced the delivery of our140 new HME assets across the business. To date, more than 60 have been deployed, with the rest scheduled over the coming months,” head of assets and capital projects at Boral Paul Young told ABHR.
The investment spans a wide array of machinery – from loaders and excavators to load-and-haul trucks – and touches every part of Boral’s operation, including asphalt, concrete, cement, recycling, and quarrying.
“It’s a one-in, one-out approach. We’re not just adding more gear – we’re upgrading with purpose. It’s about delivering more for our people and our customers,” Young said.
The new fleet incorporates advanced technologies that boost safety, enhance productivity, and deliver superior fuel efficiency.
“The new generation of HME offers improved reliability and ease of use, and that translates into a better experience for our people on the ground and better performance across the board,” Young said.
“Ultimately, it’s part of our mission to put safe, compliant, reliable and optimised assets into the field.”
Fixed and mobile assets
Central to Boral’s supply chain strategy is achieving the right balance between fixed and mobile assets – ensuring materials are close to market while managing costs effectively.
“One of our key advantages is the scale of our vertically integrated network,” Young said. “We operate roughly 360 sites across Australia and have more than 3500 heavy vehicles on the road every day.”
The network is structured around upstream assets like quarries and cement manufacturing plants, and downstream assets like batch plants and mobile equipment.
“It’s critical that those downstream assets are as close as possible to our customers. That proximity helps reduce downtime and ensures timely delivery, which is particularly important in concrete, given it’s a perishable product,” Young said.
The importance of location is underscored by recent data from the Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia, which shows that increasing transport distances can significantly inflate delivery costs.
“The Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia report highlighted that increasing the haulage distance of aggregates by 45 to 75 kilometres can increase concrete costs by anywhere from 29 to 48 per cent,” Young said. “Considering that aggregates make up about 45 per cent of concrete costs, having our plants close to market is essential.”
Mobile solutions for complex projects
Boral’s mobile capabilities are a major enabler for infrastructure delivery, particularly in remote or logistically challenging environments.
“Not all construction sites are conveniently located,” Young said. “Our mobile concrete batch plants and crushing operations give us the flexibility to support projects in regional or hard-to-reach areas.”
Boral’s recent deployments illustrate this capability well. Mobile batch plants were set up to service the Golden Plains Wind Farm and the North East Link in Victoria, various tunnel projects and for the SSTOM project in New South Wales.
“We also had a mobile asphalt plant running at Western Sydney Airport to support runway construction and another in Coffs Harbour for the local bypass project,” Young said. “These operations are only possible with strong coordination across the supply chain.”
Streamlining the supply chain
With population growth driving infrastructure demand across both metro and regional areas, Boral’s supply chain is calibrated to reduce friction and improve delivery timelines.
“Our vertically integrated network is one of our most important competitive advantages,” Young said. “We’ve got a combination of hard-to-replicate prized manufacturing and quarrying assets and well-located batch plants, all of which work together to bring product to market efficiently.”
Related stories:
- Aboriginal cultural sites discovered at Boral’s Stockton Quarry
- Boral acquires concrete plant in Melbourne’s north
- Boral extends partnership with Road Safety Education Limited
That integration doesn’t just benefit Boral; it’s designed with the customer in mind. By reducing transport distances and building in redundancy and flexibility, the company ensures fewer delays and cost overruns on critical projects.
“Each year, we move about 50 million tonnes of construction materials and supply around 4000 kilometres of road paving,” Young said.
After nearly 80 years in business, Boral remains the country’s largest vertically integrated construction materials provider. Its footprint is deeply embedded in Australia’s landscape – from everyday streets and footpaths to landmark developments.
“You’d be hard-pressed to go through a day without encountering something we’ve helped build – whether it’s a bridge, tunnel, road, or building,” Young said.
Cement from Boral’s Berrima plant was used in the construction of the Sydney Opera House, the Snowy Hydro Scheme, and the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
“Since 1979 alone, we’ve produced about 45 million tonnes of cement at Berrima. That’s enough to manufacture around 150 million cubic metres of concrete – the equivalent of 500 Parliament Houses,” Young said.
