CANADIAN PT/MC SALES POSTED SIGNIFICANT DROPS IN AUGUST

Chicago, IL — Canadian distributors of power transmission and motion control products (PT/MC) saw a drop in sales of almost eight times more than that of their counterparts in the United States in August, according to the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) August 2008 month-end trend data, released in mid-October.

U. S. distributors’ overall sales of PT/ MC products fell 1.4% in August 2008 compared to July 2008. When matched up against sales in the same month last year, sales in August 2008 were also down by 1.2%. The confidence index of U. S. distributors for August rose 0.2 points to 5.6 (on a 10-point scale).

Canadian distributors reported an 11.4% loss in sales in August 2008 compared to July 2008. Sales over the same period last year were down 7.0%. For the month, the confidence level of Canadian distributors dropped 0.4 points to 5.3 (on a 10-point scale).

U. S. manufacturers’ sales rose slightly by 0.2% in August when compared to July. Sales in August fell 0.2% compared to the same period last year. Orders during the month were down 9.3% over July 2008. The confidence level of U. S. manufacturers fell 0.1 points to 5.3 (on a 10-point scale).

Canadian manufacturers’ sales decreased 9.0% in August compared to July. Sales were down 13.9% when compared to the same period last year. The confidence level of Canadian manufacturers decreased 0.1 to 5.0 (on a 10- point scale) from July to August 2008.

Product-by-product sales between July 2008 and August 2008 reflect the change in sales experienced by U. S. and Canadian manufacturers. All but two product categories for U. S. manufacturers — gear products and unmounted bearings — posted increases in sales. For Canadian manufacturers, only one product category posted a gain — positioning systems/linear motion products.

For more information, visit www.ptda.org.