8/6/2012 7:36:00 PM
HEADLINES
U.S. Fastener Demand A Bright Spot in Global Economy
As economic uncertainty continues in Europe and economies in Asia start to slow, many fastener companies are finding relatively strong demand in North America.
This trend is demonstrated by recent sales and earnings releases.
While Bossard Group’s overall revenue fell by 0.4% in the opening six months of 2012, sales in the U.S. gained 13.2% — including a 22% jump in the second quarter — at a time when European sales fell 5% and Asian revenue declined 5.5%.
“Whereas America reported double-digit sales growth, customer demand in Europe and Asia was in line with the declining Purchasing Managers Indices,” the company stated.
Grainger saw U.S. sales in the first half of 2012 gain 8.8%, with sales in Canada growing 9%. Grainger also found 21% organic growth overseas, primarily spurred by disaster recovery in Japan.
Anixter’s OEM Supply segment, including fasteners, said six-month revenue grew 5% in the U.S., while Europe achieved a 5.1% increase and Emerging Market (Asia Pacific and Latin America) sales soared 30.6%.
The Würth Group said sales in the company’s home country of Germany increased 4.5% during the first half of 2012. Würth operations in North America grew “above average,” resulting in a 22.9% sales gain to $588.5 million. Sales in South America improved 7.6%.
ITW organic revenues grew 2.3%, with North American organic revenues increasing 5.3% and international organic revenues declining 0.8%. European organic revenues decreased 1.7%. Asia Pacific organic revenues “underperformed company expectations,” growing only 1.8%.
Notably, China organic revenues declined 0.5%. ©2012 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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