Bradken is a manufacturer and supplier of differentiated consumable and capital products to the mining, transport, general industrial and contract manufacturing markets with operations in Australia, China, Canada, India, Malaysia and the United States. It is a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery.

History

In 1919/1920, BHP steelworks employees, General Manager Leslie Bradford and Chief Mechanical Engineer Jim Kendall and a group of their friends backed a racehorse named Jack Findlay that completed a remarkable sequence of five wins. With each win the group rolled-over their bets and by 24 January 1920 they had won a small fortune pledging their winnings to start a steel

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

business.History
Bradken On 28 April 1920, Bradford and Kendall used their winnings to establish the Alloy Steel Syndicate and build a steel foundry in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

. The syndicate was incorporated as Bradford Kendall Limited on 20 March 1922. In 1926 Bradford Kendall began to manufacture railway couplers and undercarriages. In the 1930s it entered the export market, manufacturing dredge buckets for use in Malaysia. In 1948 the company was listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange. In the 1950s foundries were established in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and

Wodonga Wodonga ( Waywurru: ''Wordonga'') is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga LGA. Its population is approximately ...

. In 1970 a foundry was established in

Port Hedland A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

. In December 1974 the company changed its name to Bradken. By 1978 Bradken was controlled by

Australian National Industries Australian National Industries was an Australian heavy engineering company with diverse range of holdings. History In 1911 John McGrath began to sell motor vehicles. It operated the first public garage in New South Wales. The company held motor ...

(ANI) and

Comeng Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. History Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth Engi ...

. In 1982 ANI became the sole shareholder. In October 1990, the head office moved from Alexandra to Mayfield West. In 1995 the business was rebranded as ANI Bradken. The business was included in the January 1999 purchase of ANI by

Smorgon Steel Smorgon Steel was an Australian steel manufacturing company. It was the last remaining part of Smorgon Consolidated Industries, founded in 1958 by Victor Smorgon, member of the Smorgon family. In 1997, Smorgon purchased structural materials Welde ...

who sold the business to Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners. In August 2004 Bradken was relisted on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

. In November 2007 a new manufacturing facility opened in

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

, China. In July 2009 the business of Americast Technologies in the United States was acquired. In July 2011 Norcast Wear Solutions in Canada and SwanMet in Malaysia were purchased. In March 2013 Bradken opened a greenfield foundry development in Xuzhou, China following the construction of a manufacturing facility on the site in 2007. In October 2016 Hitachi Construction Machinery launched a takeover offer for Bradken. The transaction was completed in May 2017.Hitachi shuts 70-year-old Bradken foundry
''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

'' 20 March 2019

References

{{Hitachi Companies based in Newcastle, New South Wales Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Conglomerate companies established in 1920 Economy of Newcastle, New South Wales Hitachi Manufacturing companies established in 1920 Manufacturing companies of Australia 1920 establishments in Australia