The Power Transmission Distributors Association released May 2007 month-end trend data for distributors and manufacturers of power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) products.
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Following two months of declining sales, U.S. distributors’sales of PT/MC products rebounded with a 2.4 percent increase from April to May.&nbsp ; Year-to-year comparisons remained positive with sales in May 2007 coming in 6.4 percent higher than in May 2006.&nbsp ; Accounts receivable collection days declined 2.1 percent when compared to April.&nbsp ; The May 2007confidence index for U.S. distributors remained unchanged for the third month in a row at 6.6 (on a 10-point scale).
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Canadian distributors’sales of PT/MC products on a month-to-month comparison mirrored the performance of their U.S. counterparts.&nbsp ; After a two-month decline, sales were up 7.8 percent compared to April 2007.&nbsp ; Year-to-year comparisons also were positive with a 3.4 percent increase over sales in May of 2006.&nbsp ; Account receivables collection days dropped 7.2 percent over April 2007. &nbsp ; After a slight increase last month, the confidence level of Canadian distributors decreased 0.3 points to 6.0 for May 2007.
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Following a decline in last month’s sales, U.S. manufacturers’sales rose 1.2 percent from April to May 2007.&nbsp ; Sales growth over the same period last year also remained positive, with an 8.8 percent increase in sales when comparing May 2006 to May 2007.&nbsp ; The confidence level of U.S. manufactures remained stable, staying at 5.4 for May 2007 (on a 10-point scale).
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Canadian manufacturers’month-to-month sales also matched the performance of their U.S. counterparts.&nbsp ; Following a short-lived decrease in sales in April, sales were up 2.9 percent in May 2007.&nbsp ; Sales grew 4.7 percent compared to the same month last year.&nbsp ; Mirroring the trends, the confidence level of Canadian manufacturers also went up, increasing 0.1 points (to 5.3 on a 10-point scale) in May 2007.
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Between April and May 2007, the number of product categories experiencing sales growth was slightly more than products experiencing a decline in sales for both U.S. and Canadian manufacturers.&nbsp ; For U.S. manufacturers, five out of nine products & mdash; variable speed drives, mounted bearings, positioning systems/linear motion products, unmounted bearings, and mechanical drives systems and other PT products & mdash; experienced an increase in sales.
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Canadian manufacturers also experienced growth in five product categories & mdash; unmounted bearings, gear products, mechanical drives systems & other PT products, mounted bearings and shaft couplings.
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U.S. Manufacturer Percent Change in Product Sales (April 2007 vs. May 2007)
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