THE BEIJING AXIS China Business in Perfect Strokes

[Beijing/Johannesburg] 19 April 2010

Bateman Engineering N.V. and THE BEIJING AXIS China Sourcing Unit are pleased to announce the formalisation of the Bateman Beijing Axis, a China-focused procurement business that will assist firms on a global basis benefit from the optimised cost-effectiveness, delivery times and quality available when sourcing from China for capital projects, equipment and commodities.

The Bateman Beijing Axis, established as an equity joint venture (JV) between the two parties, provides services in three areas:

• procurement from China for Bateman Engineering's projects across the globe;
• procurement for independent external clients across the globe and predominantly in the mining and resources; industrial, manufacturing and engineering; and power and infrastructure sectors; and
• bulk commodity procurement, marketing and trading on behalf of both bulk commodity producers and users.

Services are supplied across the supply chain – from procurement needs analysis; supplier identification, evaluation, pre-qualification, selection and negotiation; contract management; QA/QC; expediting and logistics.  In addition, services are available for the sourcing of standard off-the-shelf equipment right through to procurement that may require intricate project management, complex, technical design and engineering, and product development and testing.

At the same time, the company also supports Chinese firms that are looking at global sourcing.

"Bateman Beijing Axis brings together the complementary skills and knowledge of both entities to create a unique source of expertise available to clients on a global basis", says Chief Executive Kobus van der Wath.

Executive Chairman of Bateman Engineering, John Ferreira commented: "The combination of Bateman Engineering's project management, leading process engineering and overall technical capability with THE BEIJING AXIS's extensive China sourcing experience and knowledge, is further enhanced by both entities' established networks, supplier databases and execution track record."

Bateman Engineering and THE BEIJING AXIS China Sourcing Unit have both been independently providing China sourcing services for the past eight years, resulting in a comprehensive and tested sourcing capacity.

Since its inception in early 2009, Bateman Beijing Axis has already developed a significant procurement project track record in its own right in the areas of large complex capital projects, equipment and consumables, strategic raw materials, components, finished goods and services.

Bateman Beijing Axis has a multinational management and staff contingent, made up of qualified engineers, senior sourcing consultants and mining specialists – all with recognised China knowledge and sourcing experience.  

The firm works with international clients from its offices worldwide in China, India, Australia, Russia and South Africa. The Executive Chairman of Bateman Engineering, John Ferreira, serves as the Chairman of Bateman Beijing Axis, while the Founder and Group Managing Director of THE BEIJING AXIS, Kobus van der Wath, is the Chief Executive of the JV company.

Note to the editors

About Bateman Engineering N.V.
Bateman Engineering N.V. (www.bateman.com) is a technologically-driven engineering-project house serving the minerals and metals industries worldwide, providing innovative solutions to the challenges of converting natural resources into marketable products. Its services comprise process-orientated engineering specialist niche technologies, financial and commercial facilitation and contracting, and project management.   

About THE BEIJING AXIS Ltd.
THE BEIJING AXIS (www.thebeijingaxis.com) is a cross-border business bridge to/from China in three principal areas: Strategy, Sourcing and Investment. Since its establishment in 2002, the company has successfully worked with many international and Chinese MNCs across various sectors and industries, with a core focus on the Chinese mining and resources sector and on China's burgeoning industrial and engineering sector. THE BEIJING AXIS' work is always cross-border – supporting international firms as they act in unfamiliar territory in China, or supporting Chinese firms as they venture out and 'go global'. THE BEIJING AXIS is organised along 3 synergistic cross-border China businesses: the China Strategy Group, the China Sourcing Unit and China Capital Advisors. TBA China Sourcing Unit is the entity involved in the JV, whereas TBA China Strategy Group and TBA China Capital Advisors will continue as before.

Contact Bateman Beijing Axis:
Haiwei Huang
Manager: International Marketing Coordination, Bateman Beijing Axis
T: +86 10 6440 2106
F: +86 10 6440 2672
M:+86 138 1068 0138
haiwei.huang@batemanbeijingaxis.com

Contact Bateman Engineering:
Cheryl Langbridge
Communications Manager, Bateman Engineering
T: +27 11 899 2514
F: +27 11 899 2302
M:+27 82 493 6184
cheryl.langbridge@bateman.com

Contact THE BEIJING AXIS:
Matt Pieterse
Director, THE BEIJING AXIS
T: +44 207 256 4025
F: +44 207 256 4026
M:+44 7811 936 419
matt@thebeijingaxis.com

End