CHICAGO — The second quarter 2017 Sales History & Outlook Report (SHOR) released by the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) showed power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) distributor sales accelerated, up 2.4 percent on a year-over-year basis. Second quarter sales were up 10.8 percent from the second quarter 2016, which is the highest quarterly growth rate in nearly two years. This accelerating trend is likely to extend through at least 2018.
The 3Q2017 PTDA Business Index declined to a reading of 65.1 compared to the second quarter reading of 69.8. This is the second consecutive quarter of decline in the Business Index, and signals that 2018 is likely to be predominately a year of slowing growth for PTDA member sales
The PTDA Manufacturer Index declined for the second consecutive quarter to a reading of 64.0 in 3Q2017 from 68.7 in 2Q2017, signaling slowing growth. PTDA distributors also indicated a decline with a 66.5 reading in 3Q2017 versus a 71.3 reading in 2Q2017, also suggesting slowing growth.
The PTDA Business Index is modeled after the widely respected Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and tracks change in business activity, new orders, employment, supplier deliveries, inventories, prices and backlog in the PT/MC industry to arrive at an overall index. The entire 3Q2017 PTDA Business Index report is available through PTDA’s website at ptda.org/Index.
