Jason Sandefur

More than 85% of fastener companies raised prices in 2008, with overall prices increasing an average rate of 13%, up from the three in four companies that hiked prices the previous year. Nearly 7% hiked prices in excess of 35%.
Just over 3% of survey respondents had to cut prices in 2008, while 9.7% saw prices flatline, down from the 16.8% who reported unchanged prices the previous year. Decreases ranged from 1% to 20%.
More than four in 10 fastener companies plan price cuts in the first six months of 2009, while 27.8% expect no changes, up from the 17% of respondents who foresaw prices remaining unchanged during the first half of 2008.
Nearly 90% of distributors achieved average price gains in 2008, with overall prices increasing an average of 14%. Only 9% of distributors held prices steady, while 3.8% were forced to lower prices nearly double the rate of 2.2% in 2007.
About 86% of manufacturers increased prices an average of 11.9% in 2008, while 10% kept prices unchanged and 2% cut prices an average of 1% to 5%.
More than 37% of distributors committed to cut prices an average of 3.6% in 2009. Nearly 31% intend to hold prices steady, while 21.8% of distributors plan to hike prices.
Just over 24% of manufacturers plan hikes in the next six months, while 28% don”t foresee any increase and 38% plan to cut prices during 2009. �2009 FastenerNews.com