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Distributors participating in the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association Q2 Trend Report averaged a 5.1% sales increase for the 2013 second quarter.
On average North American STAFDA distributors predict a 3.9% increase for Q3. Midwest distributors are the most optimistic averaging 13%, followed by Pacific at 11.7%. Canadian distributors anticipate a 3% third quarter drop and the Northeast distributors 1.6%.
Robert Murray, vice president for economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, sees the first half of 2013 as a "mixed performance by project type."
The housing market and commercial building are gaining; public works "hasn't seen much dampening from the sequester"; but "the retreat for institutional building is steeper than expected," Murray observed. Manufacturing plant construction "weakened" and electric utility starts "plunged."
Non-residential construction decreased 9% from a year ago with declines in education buildings, healthcare, public buildings and factories. Residential building rose 28% from first half of 2012.
Pacific distributors led with a 21.8% second quarter sales gain, followed by a 15.5% for the Northeast and 15.1% for the Southeast. Other regions were in single digit gains except for 3% drops for Canada and the Northwest.