FIN SURVEY

Distributor inventory increased in 2010, with the inventory index rising to 4.1 after two straight years of decline.
 

Costs were more manageable, however, with more than half of all distributors reporting stable costs. The distributor cost index rose to 2.8 from 2.5 the previous year.
 

Gross margin percentage increased slightly to 39.4%.
 

Profit gains among distributors improved, with only more than 36% reporting “moderate” bottom line growth.
 

Nearly half of FIN Survey distributors reported price hikes in 2010, with an average rate of 4.5%, while the majority kept prices unchanged.
 

More than 66% of distributors expect to raise prices in the next six months, though the increase is projected to be “moderate.”
 

The FIN Survey found fasteners predominately available in 2010, though the percentage of distributors claiming problems with fastener availability grew from 12% in 2009 to 36% of distributors in 2010. Just over 17% reported “significant” sourcing problems in 2010, while another 17% had “moderate” difficulty obtaining fasteners — in line with the 35.9% who experienced problems the before the recession. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com