Shares of Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group edged 1% higher on Thursday after it published a trading update for the first quarter ending March 31, 2021.

Weir said its orders in the first quarter were up 11%, driven by a 67% increase in original equipment (OE) orders and benefiting from a £36 million order to supply energy-efficient High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGRs) and screens to support the expansion of Ferrexpo’s iron ore operations in the Ukraine.

The company added that in April it won a £32 million order in Asia-Pacific “to replace a fleet of diesel-powered dewatering pumps with electric alternatives.”

Weir shares have risen about 100% over the past 12 months to give it a current stock market value of around £5 billion and see it return to the FTSE 100 amid analysts’ enthusiasm for its new strategy of targeting global mining markets after selling its oil and gas division.

Weir CEO Jon Stanton said: “The group has had a good start to the year against the backdrop of ongoing Covid challenges. 

“As expected, conditions continued to improve in both mining and infrastructure markets reflecting increasing customer confidence in a broad-based economic recovery and near record prices for commodities essential to growth and carbon transition. 

“This was reflected in continued positive development in our project pipeline and improving order conversion of our early cycle product lines and technologies that deliver significant sustainability benefits.

“Looking to the full year, we continue to expect to deliver growth in full year constant currency profits in line with current market expectations.”