John Wolz

The level of capital expenditures continued to drop in 2007. Facility and equipment investments slipped to 3.05 in the FIN Survey Capital Expenditure Index from 3.2 in 2006. Capital expenditures have not risen since 2004, when the index reached 3.4.
About 28% of respondents reported moderate to strong increases in capital investment during 2007, while 40.7% maintained current spending levels and 25.6% cut budgets.
Manufacturers outpaced distributor investment, with 27.5% reporting capital spending increases compared with 26.1% of distributors. More than 43% of distributors maintained current capital investment levels, compared with 45% of manufacturers. At least 25% of respondents from both groups slashed investment in 2007.
Distributors” capital investment index plummeted to 2.96 – the lowest in four years. The index for manufacturers rose to 3.1 from 3 the previous year.
Over 38% of importers pumped more money into capital expenditures during the year, while 30.8% kept investment unchanged and 15.4% cut capital funds. The importer index totaled 3.4.
A total of 39.8% of companies plan to maintain capital spending rates in 2008, while 30.1% anticipate increases.
About four in 10 manufacturers intend to increase their capital budget in 2008, while 37.5% anticipate level spending and 17.5 plan to trim investment. Just over 30% of distributors see a rise in capital spending this year, with 39.1% projecting no change and 26.1% expecting to cut spending.
Among importers, 46.2% plan stable investment over the next several months, while 30.8% foresee spending cuts. \ �2008 FastenerNews.com