Conveyor industry: CEMA report says booked orders were down in July

In its latest monthly report released this week, the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) reported that its July 2010 Booked Orders Index was 131.

The index in July is down 36 points or 22% from June 2010’s index of 167. While down from June, the July 2010 index represents an increase of 49% from the July 2009 Index of 88.

CEMA’s baseline calculation uses the year 1990 as a comparison.  Numbers to the right of the equation show the current state of the conveyor industry as compared to 1990.  Therefore, anything above 100 indicates growth; while anything less indicates a contraction in the industry.

The Twelve-Month Index for Booked Orders was 120 in July. Index in July represents an increase of 3% from June 2010’s Twelve-Month Index of 117.

The CEMA Billed Sales (shipments) Index was 142 in July. Index in July represents an increase of 6% from June 2010’s Index of 134. The July 2010 Index represents an increase of 22% from the July 2009 Index of 116.

The Twelve-Month Index for Billed Sales was 113 in July. Index in July represents an increase of 2% from June 2010’s Twelve-Month Index of 111.

So what does the July report say about the current state of the conveyor industry?  In an interview with Modern, Bob Reinfried, CEMA’s executive vice president, said, “The conveyor industry had a very, very good month in June.  It’s not that July was a disappointment, it was just the norm.  And it’s still better from where we were in July in 2009.”

Last month, Reinfried admitted that CEMA saw good numbers in June, but he also explained that it was too early to tell if we should expect the numbers to continue to climb.  It’s still too early, he said. 

CEMA will be holding its Fall meeting in Chicago on September 21 and 22, at which time Reinfried said he hopes to gather more information from member companies and wrap some context around the numbers.

Reinfried told Modern that CEMA is forecasting an increase of 2% to 3% for the overall North American conveyor market in 2010, and this month’s report coupled with next week’s meeting will help determine if that expectation is still on target.