Sentiment in the mining industry showed positive signs in the first quarter, although custom

ers  continued  to  focus  on  improving their cash flow and profitability, Finnish engineering 

group Outotec said Thursday. 

"Our  first-quarter order  intake  improved significantly from the comparison period in 2016. 

The improvement reflects the more positive market sentiment in the mining industry but als

o the  low  order  intake  in  the  comparison  period,"  CEO  Markku  Terasvasara  said  in 

the company's Q1 results statement. 

"In addition to equipment orders in minerals processing, we got some larger plant orders in 

metals refining. We were also able to increase our service order intake by 13%," he added. 

In Q1,  gold,  aluminum, copper,  and  zinc projects were most active, with customers in the 

Middle East, Central and South America and Russia continuing to lead the way in terms of 

investment, the company said. 

Business  across  other  markets was mainly related to smaller equipment deliveries, while 

the Asian market was "more subdued," Outotec added. 

Looking  ahead, "investments in minerals processing are expected to follow the industry's 

production  levels, providing  continued  opportunities  for process improvements, smaller 

equipment deliveries, and services," Outotec said. 

"Gold and copper projects are likely to continue being most active, but other base metals 

projects are also showing increased activity," the company added. 

Outotec  reported  an  order intake in Q1 of Eur318.4 million ($348 million), up 87% from 

Eur170.2 million in Q1 last year. 

The  growth  was attributable to equipment orders in the company's minerals processing 

segment as well as larger plant orders in the metals, energy & water segment. 

Service  order intake was up 13% year-on-year at Eur115 million due to growth in spare 

parts.