Комацу лимитид just posted its strongest financial year in recent history, but the world’s second-largest mining equipment manufacturer says new U.S. trade policies will cost the company half a billion dollars in 2025.
The Japanese heavy equipment giant reported ¥4.1 trillion ($28.5 billion) in consolidated sales for fiscal 2024, which ended March 31, 2025. Net income jumped 9.6% year-over-year to ¥659.2 billion, driven by stronger selling prices and favorable currency exchange rates.
Then came the warning: Komatsu projects total sales will drop 8.8% in fiscal 2025, falling to roughly $26 billion by March 2026.
Half of U.S. Sales Come From Imports
Kiyoshi Hishinuma, general manager of Komatsu’s business coordination department, told analysts in April that Trump administration tariffs would generate approximately $550 million in additional costs. The company estimates a $350 million hit specifically to its construction and mining equipment division.
“About 50% of the products sold in the United States are manufactured outside of the United States and imported mainly as finished construction equipment and parts,” Hishinuma said during the earnings call. Construction equipment shipments come primarily from Canada, while mining machinery gets supplied from manufacturing bases worldwide.
Currency movements compound the problem. Yen appreciation against the dollar squeezes margins on every unit sold, even before tariff costs enter the equation.
Tokyo to Milwaukee: A Global Operation
Founded in 1921 by Meitaro Takeuchi in the city of Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, the manufacturer has grown into a 65,738-person operation spanning 258 companies across six continents. The company’s name translates to “small pine tree” in Japanese.
Komatsu trails only Caterpillar in global market share but dominates in Japan and China, where it frequently outpaces its American rival. The product catalog runs deep:
- Excavators, bulldozers, and wheel loaders for construction sites
- Ultra-class haul trucks that move 363 metric tons per load
- Underground coal mining equipment including continuous miners
- Hydraulic presses for auto manufacturing
- Drilling rigs for surface and underground operations
That breadth came partly through acquisition. In April 2017, Komatsu spent $3.7 billion to buy Milwaukee-based Joy Global, its largest purchase ever. The deal added underground mining equipment, rope shovels, draglines, and the established P&H and Montabert brands to Komatsu’s portfolio.
Joy Global, renamed Komatsu Mining Corp., still operates from Wisconsin with Jeffrey Dawes running the 10,000-person subsidiary.
Autonomous Fleet Passes 10 Billion Tons
While tariffs threaten margins, Komatsu continues pushing its technology agenda. More than 750 autonomous haul trucks now run at mine sites worldwide under the FrontRunner Autonomous Haulage System. Those machines have collectively moved over 10 billion metric tons of material, adding roughly 6 million tons daily.
The company achieved another first in May 2025: autonomously operating an electric drive truck while connected to a trolley power line. The trolley assist system feeds electricity through overhead cables during uphill climbs, reducing diesel consumption and extending engine life. Combining that with driverless operation had never been done before in commercial mining.
Three months later, Nevada Gold Mines became the first major U.S. operation to deploy FrontRunner technology across its 300-ton and 230-ton haul truck fleets.
$15 Billion Partnership Reshapes Strategy
Komatsu’s most significant technology investment came in September 2025 when it partnered with Applied Intuition, a Silicon Valley vehicle intelligence firm valued at $15 billion. The multi-year collaboration will develop a software-defined vehicle platform for Komatsu’s next generation of mining equipment.
Peter Salditt, president of Komatsu’s mining business division, called it “a step change in how we bring innovative, high-performance technology” to mining operations.
Current autonomous systems require constant network connectivity. If connection drops for even seconds, entire fleets stop. Applied Intuition’s platform processes decisions onboard each vehicle, reducing dependence on central control rooms.
Qasar Younis, Applied Intuition’s co-founder and CEO, framed the partnership around industry pressures: “The mining industry faces a perfect storm: rising costs, safety risks, decarbonization pressures, labor shortages and increasing demand for critical minerals.”
Demand for copper, lithium, and rare earth minerals keeps climbing while fewer skilled workers enter mining. Automation becomes necessary, not optional.
What Comes Next
Komatsu maintains its ¥190 per share annual dividend despite the projected revenue decline. The company continues funding autonomous vehicle research and electrification programs.
But the tariff math is brutal. A $550 million cost increase hitting a manufacturer already projecting lower sales creates pressure to either raise prices (risking market share) or absorb the hit (crushing margins).
How комацу лимитид navigates the next 12 months will test whether technology investments and operational improvements can offset policy headwinds. Mining customers need equipment regardless of trade wars, but they also have options. Caterpillar, Hitachi, and Chinese manufacturers all compete for the same contracts.
The company that survived a century of economic cycles, wars, and industry upheavals now faces a different kind of challenge: making the numbers work when half a billion in unexpected costs land on the balance sheet.
