Each month, the National Fluid Power Association releases data on shipments, per its membership. The latest data, from August 2013, indicates that industry shipments of fluid power products for decreased 8.9% compared to August 2012, and increased 0.3% compared to last month. Mobile hydraulic, industrial hydraulic and pneumatic shipments decreased in August 2013 when compared to August 2012. Mobile hydraulics decreased, while industrial hydraulics and pneumatics increased when compared to last month.
None of this data is surprising, as most recent economic indicators, economists, and companies themselves have said that the remainder of 2013 and 2014 will see little growth.
In Figure 1, each point on this graph represents the most recent 12 months of orders compared to the previous 12 months of orders. Each point can be read as a percentage. For example, 91.9 (the July 2013 level of the industrial hydraulic series) indicates that industrial hydraulic orders received from August 2012 to July 2013 were 91.9% of the orders received from August 2011 to July 2012. (Base Year 2008 = 100)
The table in Figure 3, is expressed in terms of cumulative percent changes. These changes refer to the percent difference between the relevant cumulative total for 2013 and the total for the same months in 2012. For example, the July pneumatic shipments figure of ‐2.7 means that for the calendar year through July 2013, pneumatic shipments were down 2.7% compared to the same time period in 2012. (Base Year 2008 = 100)
These charts are drawn from data collected from more than 80 manufacturers of fluid power products by NFPA’s Confidential Shipment Statistics (CSS) program. Much more information is available to NFPA members, which allows them to better understand trends and anticipate change in their market and the customer markets they serve.
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