By NICK STEWART
As foreign firms begin to stake out a larger market share in Ontario mining camps, it is imperative that domestic service and supply companies consider moving into international waters.
“It’s of absolute importance,” says Marc Couse, honorary consul of South Africa with Sudbury’s South African Consulate.
“I even said it was the case five or six years ago, but it’s especially true now.”
Couse, who served as the director of trade and investment marketing with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines until 2000, says Northern Ontario companies must be willing to look beyond their backyard to change.
“The companies that are interested in growth and profit can no longer keep looking out their back door anymore. The world has really changed in the last six months.”
While it may be standard practice for local companies to leverage their connections in the North to obtain business in other countries, the same holds true in other countries. With the arrival of foreign companies like CVRD and Xstrata plc in the Sudbury camp, Couse says local companies may begin to feel the squeeze as Brazilian or Swiss suppliers potentially gain a toehold in the area.
Northern companies need to develop the skills necessary to go beyond the region and into international markets, he says. This involves realizing some of the cultural differences which may result in costly modifications of a product.
Also, distribution may pose logistical and monitoring challenges.
With enough dedication and preparation, however, local companies should be able to leverage their home-grown strengths to find success in the global market, Couse says.
“I’ve always maintained that if you can be successful selling in Sudbury, you can be successful anywhere in the world.
The local market is such that companies like CVRD Inco and Xstrata Nickel always want good quality stuff, the Cadillacs of supply and service.”
Couse spoke on the topic to a crowd of 10 Sudbury-based mining supply and service companies as part of a series of workshops on international sales, entitled “Going Global.” The workshops are hosted by the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA).
Also speaking at the event was consultant Ross Bennett, based out of Arnprior, Ontario, who helps firms to move into international markets.
He says the declining reserves of select metals in Canada has been thoroughly explored over the last few decades, increasing the need to look elsewhere for potential business opportunities. According to Natural Resources Canada, national mineable reserves of both copper and zinc in 2002 had reached less than half of the total seen in 1986.
“When I got out of the Haileybury School of Mines in 1965, there were seven iron mines in Ontario,” he says. “There hasn’t been an iron mine in Ontario in 15 years, so the trends are definitely there.”
While he suggests an increased involvement in the international metals markets is the answer, Bennett offers several warnings. Some countries have extremely lax regulations regarding the theft of intellectual copyright and will clone or copy proprietary technology, he says, making it important for Ontario companies to be cautious about the role they choose to play.
“More and more of the metals are coming from other countries, but we have the expertise.”
