According to R.W. Baird’s Industrial Review, both quotation and order activity improved in 2Q17, but at a slower pace than in the previous two quarters. Today, the industry mood would best be described as “guardedly optimistic” in contrast to the post-election euphoria that our industry experienced at the end of 2016 and in 1Q17.
Growth expectations continue to remain very healthy with 85.0 percent of the Baird survey respondents still predicting positive growth for 2017. However, that is still below last quarter when ALL respondents expected positive organic growth for the year. Typically, these expectations move lower through the year, but actually, all indications are that the overall industrial PVF market is getting stronger. In fact, the American Supply Association’s industrial PVF distributors recently reported a solid 6.5% increase on average in year-over-year sales results through June.