Distributor News

Grainger, Chicago, IL, reported sales for April increased 4 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Results for the month included a 4 percentage point contribution from Cromwell Group (Holdings) Ltd., acquired Sept. 1. Excluding acquisitions, organic daily sales were flat driven by a 1 percentage point increase in volume and a 1 percentage point benefit from the timing of the Easter holiday, offset by a 2 percentage point decline in price. More

Essendant Inc., Deerfield, IL, has announced that its agreement with Staples Inc. to acquire its wholesale contracts with minority- and woman-owned office supply resellers and their large corporate customers will not close. The acquisition was contingent on the merger between Staples and Office Depot Inc., which was preliminarily enjoined on antitrust grounds by a U.S. District Court judge’s ruling on May 10.  Staples and Office Depot announced plans to abandon the merger in the wake of that ruling. More

Graybar, St. Louis, MO, reported first-quarter sales of $1.5 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Profit increased 20.7 percent to $15 million. More

Kathleen M. Mazzarella, president and CEO of Graybar Electric Company Inc., St. Louis, MO, was named chair of the St. Louis Fed’s board of directors. More

Building products distributor ABC Supply Co. Inc., Beloit, WI, has acquired roofing products distributor T&C Supply, Flagstaff, AZ. More

KLX Inc., Wellington, FL, has acquired Herndon Aerospace & Defense LLC for $210 million. More

S.P. Richards Co., the office products group of Genuine Parts Co., Atlanta, GA, has agreed to acquire The Safety Zone LLC, Guilford, CT. More

Lawson Products Inc., Chicago, IL, has acquired F.B. Feeney Hardware, Ontario, Canada. More

Jergens Industrial, Cleveland, OH, has acquired B&G Supply, Akron, OH. More

Red Ball Oxygen, Shreveport, LA, has agreed to acquire Ideal Specialty Gases and Analytical Services, Houston, TX, according to a report from the Shreveport Times. More

Honeywell, Morris Plains, NJ, announced plans to spin off its resins and chemicals business into a standalone, publicly traded company named AdvanSix Inc.  More

The Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the first quarter of $22.8 billion, a 9 percent increase year-over-year, with comparable store sales up 6.5 percent. Profit for the first quarter increased 14.2 percent to $1.8 billion. More

Airgas Inc., Radnor, PA, reported sales for the fiscal full year 2016 ended March 31 of $5.3 billion, flat compared to the previous year. Profit for the year decreased 8.3 percent to $337.5 million. More

Industrial distributor DXP Enterprises Inc., Houston, TX, reported sales for the first quarter of $253.6 million, a 25.8 percent decrease year-over-year. The company reported a loss of $5.1 million for the quarter, compared to a profit of $9.7 million the prior year. More

BlueLinx Holdings Inc., Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the first quarter of $474.3 million, an increase of 4.3 percent year-over-year. The company reported a loss of $6.1 million for the quarter, compared to a loss of $8.9 million in the prior year quarter. More

A. M. Castle & Co., Franklin Park, IL, a global distributor of specialty metal and plastic products, reported sales for the first quarter of $163.8 million, down 13.1 percent year-over-year. The company reported a loss of $36.9 million for the quarter, compared to a loss of $15.1 million the same quarter a year ago. In February the company said it would close its Houston, TX, and Edmonton, Alberta, facilities, which primarily serviced the energy sector. More

Veritiv Corp., Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the first quarter of $2 billion, a 5.5 percent decrease from the prior year. Profit was $3.3 million, compared to $2.2 million the same quarter a year ago. More

Electrical distributor Van Meter Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA, has appointed Lura McBride to president and CEO. More

Turner Supply Co., Mobile, AL, has appointed Christopher Pratt to vice president and to its management team. Pratt succeeds Kent Crosthwait, who is retiring after 46 years in industrial distribution. More

HVAC & plumbing distributor APR Supply Co., Harrisburg, PA, plans to relocate its Harrisburg branch to a joint branch location with Schaedler Yesco Distribution. More

Economic News

March U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $371 million according to AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 36.9 percent from February and down 11.8 percent from March 2015. More

March U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $184.1 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and AMT – the Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was up 6.2 percent from February’s total and down 7.9 percent from March 2015. With a year-to-date total of $516.1 million, 2016 is down 8.5 percent when compared with 2015. More

Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to +0.10 in April from –0.55 in March. All four of the broad categories of indicators that make up the index increased from March, but three of the four categories made nonpositive contributions to the index in April. More

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.6 percent in April to 123.9 (2010 = 100), following a no change in March, and a 0.1 percent increase in February. More

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index increased in April to 128.3, up from 126.4 in March. This represents a 1.4 percent gain in the ETI compared to a year ago. More

Industrial production in the U.S. increased 0.7 percent in April after decreasing in the previous two months, according to the Federal Reserve. More

Privately owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000. This is 6.6 percent above the revised March estimate of 1,099,000, but is 1.7 percent below the April 2015 rate of 1,192,000. More

Canadian manufacturing sales decreased 0.9 percent to C$50 billion (US$38.7 billion) in March, mainly reflecting lower sales of transportation equipment and primary metals, according to Statistics Canada. More

Canadian investment in new housing construction increased 9.7 percent to C$3.8 billion (US$2.9 billion) in March compared with the same month in 2015, according to Statistics Canada. More

Canadian wholesale sales decreased 1 percent to C$54.6 billion (US$41.6 billion) in March, according to Statistics Canada. Lower sales were recorded in five of seven subsectors, led by the motor vehicle and parts subsector and the miscellaneous subsector. In volume terms, wholesale sales declined 0.4 percent. More

The Canadian Wholesale Services Price Index was up 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Statistics Canada. Gains were widespread, with seven of eight major sectors reporting increases and one sector posting a decline. More

European seasonally adjusted industrial production fell by 0.8 percent in March in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.5 percent in the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In February 2016 industrial production fell by 1.2 percent in the euro area and by 1 percent in the EU28. In March 2016 compared with March 2015, industrial production increased by 0.2 percent in both the euro area and by 0.3 percent in the EU28. More

Compared with February 2016, seasonally adjusted European production in the construction sector in March decreased by 0.9 percent in the euro area (EA19) and by 1.4 percent in the EU28, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In February 2016, production in construction fell by 0.6 percent in both zones. Year-over-year, March production in construction fell by 0.5 percent in the euro area and by 1.4 percent in the EU28. More

Power transmission/motion control distributor sales were up 9.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, according to the quarterly Sales History & Outlook Report from the Power Transmission Distributors Association. More

Manufacturer News

Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc., Cleveland, OH, has acquired Vizient Manufacturing Solutions, Bettendorf, IA. More

Rexnord Corp., Milwaukee, WI, has agreed to acquire Cambridge International Holdings Corp. for $210 million. More

Rexnord reported sales for fiscal 2016 of $1.9 billion, a decrease of 6.2 percent compared to the previous year. Profit for the year decreased 19 percent to $67.9 million. Fourth quarter sales were $492.6 million, a year-over-year decrease of 5 percent. The company reported a loss for the quarter of $0.4 million compared to a profit the prior-year of $32.3 million. More

Switzerland-based power and automation company ABB has acquired SVIA, Jönköping, Sweden, a provider of robot automation cells for machine tending. More

The Kistler Group has acquired Germany-based Schatz AG and its U.S. sales and service company, Schatz USA Inc. More

Dorner Holding Corp., the parent company of Dorner Mfg. Corp., has acquired Germany-based Geppert-Band, a manufacturer of belt and modular belt conveyors. More

Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Nashville, TN, reported sales for the first quarter of $504.6 million, an increase of 7 percent year-over-year. Profit for the quarter was $10.3 million, compared to a loss of $34.5 million in the prior year quarter. More

International Wire Group Holdings Inc., Camden, NY, reported sales for the first quarter of $139.6 million, down 21.4 percent year-over-year. This decrease was partly due to a lower selling price of copper, partially offset by a lower proportion of tolled copper. Profit decreased 53.5 percent to $2 million. More

Jason Industries Inc., Milwaukee, WI, parent company to a global family of manufacturers in the seating, finishing, automotive acoustics and components markets, reported sales for the first quarter of $191 million, up 8.6 percent year-over-year. The company reported a loss for the quarter of $3.4 million, compared with loss of $1.6 million in the prior-year quarter. More

Continental Building Products Inc., Herndon, VA, manufacturer of gypsum wallboard and finishing products, reported first quarter sales of $111.5 million, an increase of 21 percent year-over-year. Profit was $12.5 million, compared to $2 million in the prior year quarter. More

Manufacturer Regal Beloit Corp., Beloit, WI, reported first quarter sales of $818.2 million, a decrease of 10.3 percent from the previous year. Profit increased 12.7 percent to $42.7 million. More

Safety products manufacturer Brady Corp., Milwaukee, WI, reported sales for the fiscal third quarter ended April 30 of $286.8 million, a decrease of 1.2 percent year-over-year. Profit increased 21.9 percent to $21 million. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, sales were $838.5 million, a 5 percent decrease from the same period the previous year. Profit increased 29.7 percent to $55 million. More

Swedish manufacturer Sandvik has announced that ZZ Zhang, executive vice president and head of emerging markets, will leave the group executive management team. More

Carlisle Cos. Inc., Charlotte, NC, has named Kevin Zdimal as vice president of business development, a newly created position. Titus Ball will succeed Zdimal as vice president and chief accounting officer. More