January 16, 2008

Concerns the U.S. may be sliding into an economic recession are not immediately evident among distributors and manufacturers in the recent 2008 Member Forecast Survey of Power Transmission Distributors Association.
 
Among the 46 distributor respondents, 63 percent anticipate sales growth in 2008, just over a quarter project flat sales and about 11 percent expect a drop.
 
The 57 manufacturer respondents tend to be a bit more optimistic — 83.6 percent see sales gains and 16.4 percent predict flat sales. Manufacturer respondents don't predict a decrease in sales.
 
But many economists and some PTDA members fear a potential perfect storm"could slam the U.S. economy sometime in 2008 then fully impact industrial distribution and many manufacturing ...

U.S. distributors'sales of power transmission/motion control products continue to fluctuate, dropping 5.9 percent from October to November after a 5.2 percent increase in sales the prior month, according to the latest Power Transmission Distributors Association month-end trend data for November 2007.

Year-to-year comparisons have been positive all year; sales in November 2007 came in 6.8 percent higher than in November 2006.  Accounts receivable collection days also continue to fluctuate, increasing 2.5 percent in November 2007 after dropping 6.8 percent last month. The November 2007 confidence index for U.S. distributors remained flat at 6.2 (on a 10-point scale).
 
Canadian distributors'sales in PT/MC products increased slightly, gaining 0.3 percent ...