No matching peak of 1998
By Industrial Distribution Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 2/1/2000
Orders and shipments of pneumatic products rebounded slightly at the end of 1999, but industrial hydraulic and mobile hydraulic components finished the year well below 1998 peak levels, according to a survey of manufacturers.In a survey of about 100 members, the National Fluid Power Assn. reports that only pneumatic orders and shipments increased compared
to the year before. The survey, which represents a cross-section of hydraulic and pneumatic suppliers, is through November of 1999, the most recent month that figures were available.
When added together, shipments of hydraulic and pneumatic products peaked during the summer of '98, NFPA reports. Through last November, pneumatic shipments rose half a percent and orders increased two percent, while industrial hydraulic shipments dropped nearly 11 percent and orders were down four percent.
Mobile hydraulic shipments declined seven percent and orders dropped more than six percent compared to the previous year. (See table)
Several distributors agreed that 1999 did not match the previous year's growth.
Bill Leverington, branch manager of Spencer Fluid Power, a master distributor that is part of Spencer Industries, Inc., in Seattle, Wash., described both local and national sales as stagnant.
"I'll be up, but not a lot. It will be real close, and the dollars will be from different places," he said shortly before the year's end, adding that branch revenue would be close to nine million dollars.
Looking ahead, Leverington expects more acquisitions like Eaton's buyout of Vickers. He expects that acquisition to prompt an expansion of his repair business this year to service Vickers' products. "I see that as being a trend throughout the industry -- some of the hydraulic manufacturers will be bought out and purchased by the end of the year," he said.
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