Led by variable speed drives in Canada, sales of power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) products by U.S. and Canadian manufacturers grew in August, after a decline in July. U.S. sales were up 7.6 percent and Canadian manufacturers’ sales were up 2.6 percent, according to sales data released by the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) in its Market Outlook Report.
 
In the U.S., year-to-date sales are up 10.2 percent over the same period in 2009. In Canada, sales are 12.0 percent ahead of 2009.
 
After three months at the neutral position of 5.0, confidence in the market by U.S. manufacturers dropped to 4.8 on a scale of 1 (very pessimistic) to 10 (outstanding).  Canadian manufacturers’ confidence rose to 5.2, back from a drop to 4.9 in July.

Month-to-month sales for product categories between July 2010 and August 2010 for Canadian manufacturers are reported below.
 
Canadian Manufacturer Percent Change in Product Sales
(July 2010 vs. August 2010)
 

Product	Percent Change
Positioning Systems/Linear Motion Products	–46.4%
Shaft Couplings	–32.3%
Mounted Bearings	–14.3%
Clutches & Brakes	–8.2%
Mechanical Drive Systems and Other PT Products	0.1%
Gear Products	7.5%
Unmounted Bearings	9.3%
Variable Speed Drives	49.3%

The Market Outlook Report is published monthly by the Power Transmission Distributors Association. The full report includes U.S. and Canadian manufacturer data for sales and order trends for mounted bearings, unmounted bearings, variable speed drives, positioning systems/linear motion products, gear products, clutches and brakes, shaft couplings and mechanical drive systems and other PT products. 
www.ptda.org/MOR
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