February figure is 3.5 percent below the February 2007 estimate. More
A worsening housing collapse continues to depress related industries, making for turbulent times in the U.S.
Prices for manufactured products in Canada edged up in February, as higher prices for primary metals were partly offset by lower prices for motor vehicles. More
Construction intentions in Canada cooled for a fourth consecutive month in February, on the heels of a sharp decline in the value of building permits for non-residential construction in Ontario. More
Illinois Tool Works Inc. has acquired VS Acquisition Holding Inc., the parent company of Vitronics Soltec Corp., Stratham, NH, a global manufacturer of equipment, software and related services used in the soldering of printed circuit boards and the packaging of semiconductor devices. More
Acument Global Technologies, Inc. Troy, MI, has acquired Saturn Fasteners, Inc., Burbank, CA, to strengthen its capabilities in the aerospace threaded fastener market. More
Bosch Rexroth plans to buy K. &H. Eppensteiner, the hydraulics equipment company based in Ketsch, Germany. More
Parker Hannifin Corp., Cleveland, OH, supplier in motion and control technologies, has acquired HTR Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries, including Hi-Tech Rubber, Inc., Inland Technologies, Inc., Ventrex, Inc. and Accusil, Inc. The acquired companies operate under their own names. More
Parker Hannifin Corp. has also acquired Vansco Electronics, a manufacturer of electronic controls, displays and terminals, communication and operator interfaces, and sensors. Vansco systems for mobile equipment, a primary Parker market, include key applications for agricultural, construction, material handling, bus, RV, and specialty truck equipment. More
MSC Industrial Direct Inc., Melville, NY, distributor of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations supplies to industrial customers, reported sales in the second quarter 2008 ended March 1 were up 7.9 percent to $436.5 million. Profit was $47.5 million, an increase of 17.2 percent. More
84 Lumber Co., Eighty Four, PA, has closed another 30 stores throughout the U.S. Closed stores operations will be consolidated into other 84 Lumber locations. The company now has 368 stores and 13 component facilities. MoreParis-based Rexel now owns 98.67 percent of Hagemeyer NV, and shares of Hagemeyer will no longer be publicly traded as of mid-April, the companies announced. In November 2007, Rexel and Hagemeyer reached an agreement for Rexel to buy the Dutch electrical distributor for roughly US$4.5 billion. More
Rexel will complete sales of
Industrial Distribution Group,
James T. Ryan, Grainger‘s president, will add the title of CEO effective June 1, 2008. He will succeed Richard L. Keyser, who will remain with the Chicago, IL-based facilities maintenance distributor as chairman of the board. More
MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc., Melville, NY, has launched its largest Safety Products Catalog in its company history. The new catalog has 40,000 products, a 50 percent increase in SKUs since the company’s 2005 catalog. The catalog will be sent to a customer base five times larger than the customer base receiving the 2005 catalog. More
HD Supply Utilities recently opened its newly completed headquarters and branch warehouse in Orlando, FL. The new facility houses the HD Supply Utilities Orlando branch and a 52,000-square-foot warehouse. More
HD Supply Waterworks, an HD Supply business that distributes a line of water, sewer, fire protection and storm drain products to serve contractors and municipalities in the water, wastewater, storm and fire protection markets, has finalized the purchase of D&M Fabrication, Inc., Lodi, CA. D&M Fabrication, Inc. specializes in fabricating fire protection systems for distributors and contractors. More
Another HD Supply company, Creative Touch Interiors, Orlando, FL, which provides customized builder solutions for interior finish selection and installation, has entered the Atlanta market with the opening of a new 20,000 square foot warehouse facility. More
Dutch seals distributor ERIKS has increased its bid for valve manufacturer Royal Econosto NV to €8.21 per share in cash from €7.80 after reports Gilde Buy Out Partners BV will increase its original bid to compete. Econosto has two divisions: flow and sealing technology and Comfort and Environmental Technology. More
The ERIKS group has also agreed to acquire two companies in Poland: TIM Sp.j.w. with three branches in the industrial region of Poznan, and Hydro-met s.c., based in Gdynia. The two companies sell sealing components, mechanical power transmission products and maintenance products to OEMs as well as the MRO market. More
Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, has acquired A&N Plant, a European-based supplier of new and reconditioned rotating, positioning, and welding equipment for sale and rent. The business had sales of $20 million for the year ended June 30, 2007. The acquisition creates a new business unit of Red-D-Arc Limited, an Airgas company, a provider of welding, positioning, and related rental products and services in North America. More
Denver, CO-based ProBuild Holdings, supplier of building materials to professional contractors, has purchased Columbus, OH-based Khempco Building Supply. More
St. Louis, MO-based Graybar, a distributor of electrical and communications products, has published a new catalog of security products. The Graybar Security Solutions Catalog will debut at two upcoming events in Las Vegas, NV and features more than 1,400 products from 44 brand-name suppliers in six categories. More
Graybar has achieved the No. 1 ranking on the annual FORTUNE “America’s Most Admired Companies”list in the Wholesalers: Diversified industry category.
Reliance Steel &Aluminum Co. has acquired Dynamic Metals International, LLC Bristol, CT. Dynamic is a specialty metal distributor. Dynamic’s 2007 revenues were $11 million. Dynamic will operate as a subsidiary of Service Steel Aerospace Corp., Tacoma, WA. More
NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions rose for a second straight month in March. Still, at 47.9, the index again lagged the 50-point threshold indicative of industry expansion. More
Durable goods orders in the U.S. fell 1.7 percent in February, with nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft falling 2.6 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More
Real gross domestic product -the output of goods and services produced by labor and property -increased at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in fourth quarter 2007, according to final estimates by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. More
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in March, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. More
U.S. construction spending during February 2008 was 0.3 percent below the revised January estimate. The