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Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Mary Sue Lyon, who has lead the Power Transmission Distributors Association for 15 years, will retire as executive vice president at the end of 2010.
In a letter to PTDA's members, past PTDA president John Masek of Bearing Service Inc., Livonia, MI, and current PTDA president Drew Tucci of Eastern Bearings, Inc., Waltham, MA, commended Lyon on her outstanding leadership and commitment to making PTDA into the premiere networking and educational organization in our industry."
Lyon joined PTDA as the executive vice president in August 1994.
Lyon says the decision to retire was tough."My 15 years at PTDA have been a pleasure andthatis largely due to the individuals who have shown great leadership, vision and commitment to the Association and the industry," she said. "It has been ...
In June, the Canadian Industrial Product Index rose0.7% compared with May, while the Raw Materials Price Index increased6.2%, according to a report today from Statistics Canada.Both gains were due to a strong increase in petroleum prices.
June's increase in the IPPI followed declines of1.2% in May and0.6% in April. The IPPI was pushed up mainly by the prices for petroleum and coal products and, to a lesser extent, primary metal products. Prices for petroleum and coal products rose10.8%, more than twice the5.2% increase observed in May. However, excluding petroleum and coal products, the IPPI posted a0.3% decline, slower than the1.8% drop recorded in May.
Most of the2.2% increase for ...
United Rentals, Inc., Greenwich, CT, announced sales for the second quarter 2009 of $615 million, down 26% from second quarter 2008. The company reported a net loss of $17 million, compared with a net loss of $202 million for the prior year same period.
During the quarter, 38 branches were closed or consolidated in the quarter, and headcount was reduced by approximately 800.
"Looking forward, we believe that our operating environment will remain very challenging," CEO Michael Kneeland said. "Our best estimate at this time is that non-residential construction activity will continue to decline on a year-over-year basis into 2010, although the rate of decline may moderate. Our infrastructure rentals should see the benefit of stimulus funds, while on a macro level we believe that our ...
Milwaukee, WI-based Rockwell Automation, Inc. reported fiscal 2009 third quarter revenue of $1.1 billion, down 31% compared with the third quarter fiscal 2008.
Third quarter profit was $32.8 million, compared with $152.6 million in the third quarter 2008.
The manufacturer expects "we may be approaching the bottom of the cycle." But it still sees uncertainty in the global economy and has not yet seen evidence of an upturn.
Control Products & Solutions third quarter sales were $611.3 million, a decrease of 28% from the third quarter 2008. Currency translation contributed 5 percentage points to the decline, partially offset by about 1 percentage point of growth ...
Adam Fein of Pembroke Consulting has released his Midyear Economic Report, and you can access it on his Distribution Trends blog.
He expects the wholesale distribution industry to return to year-over-year growth in early ...
The second quarter Baird Industrial Distribution Survey indicates that average second quarter year over year revenues were slightly worse than the first quarter, with the third quarter forecast slightly better than current quarter trends. Encouragingly, pricing and gross margins appear to be holding relatively steady while inventory levels continue to decline with no re-stock expected in the near-term.
The bottoming process appears to be underway in most industries," said David Manthey, CFA, Baird's senior research analyst who leads the firm's Industrial Distribution sector research. "With conditions stabilizing and inventories at very low levels throughout most supply chains, industrial distributors should continue to see improvement into 2009."
Survey Details
Baird's ...
United Stationers Inc., Deerfield, IL, a North American wholesale distributor of business products, today sales for the second quarter 2009 were $1.16 billion, down 7.4% from the prior year same period. Profit decreased 1.4% to $21.5 million.
Weak macro-economic conditions contributed to revenue declines in furniture, industrial, technology and traditional office supplies. Despite these conditions, the janitorial/breakroom category experienced sales growth.
"United's results reflected our associates' excellent efforts to control what we can in the face of difficult market conditions," said Richard W. Gochnauer, president and chief executive officer. "While employment and manufacturing trends continued to weaken in the quarter, the rate of change in our sales improved sequentially ...
Canton, OH-based The Timken Company has agreed to sell its Needle Roller Bearings business - which serves customers mostly in the automotive OEM sector - to Japan's JTEKT Corp. JTEKT will pay $300 million in cash.
"This transaction is a major step forward in our strategy to transform our portfolio to focus on industrial sectors with strong aftermarkets," said James W. Griffith, Timken president and CEO. "It positions us to concentrate our resources on areas where we can realize mutual value with our customers."
The Needle Roller Bearings business was part of the broader Torrington acquisition Timken made in 2003. It had sales of $621 million in 2008 and has 3,400 employees. The business, with 12 manufacturing facilities and three engineering technology centers, manufactures highly ...
New orders for manufactured durable goods in June decreased $4.1 billion or 2.5% to $158.6 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This decrease followed two consecutive monthly increases including a 1.3% May increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.1%. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.7%.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in June, down eleven consecutive months, decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2% to $168.3 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 2.6% May decrease.
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in June, down nine consecutive months, decreased $6.6 billion or 0.9% to $740.1 billion. This followed a 0.3% May decrease. ...
Park-Ohio Holdings Corp., Cleveland, OH, announced sales for the second quarter were $163.4 million, down 43% from second quarter 2008. Profit declined 42.1% to $3.3 million.
Year-to-date, sales were $344.7 million, down 38% from the same period of 2008. The company recorded a net loss for the first six months of 2009 of $2.2 million, compared to profit of $9.2 million in the same period of 2008.
Park-Ohio is a provider of supply management services and a manufacturer of highly engineered products. ...
