Conveyor Industry Orders Decrease Year over Year

By Robert Reinfried, Executive Vice President, CEMA

The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) reports that overall industry orders (bookings) for the first 6 months of 2019 decreased 29.1% compared to the same period in 2018, with total orders of $6.34 billion. CEMA estimates industry billed sales (shipments) for the first 6 months of 2019 increased 1.8% compared to the same period in 2018, with total shipments of $8.60 billion.

Unit Handling orders were down 37.87% and shipments were up 1.67%. In the Bulk Conveying area, orders were down 1.19% and shipments were up 2.21%.

CEMA tracks new orders and shipped sales volume in nine classes of unit handling equipment and four classes of bulk handling equipment.

CEMA President, Michael Hoehn announced the results at the Association’s Fall Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

The executives representing CEMA member companies who attended the Fall Meeting expressed concern for the remainder of 2019. Coming off an exceptional growth year in 2018, the forecast for shipments in 2019 will be flat to 2018.

CEMA, the industry leader in safety and technical standards and founded in 1933, makes available to member and nonmember companies safety labels for all types of conveyor equipment, as well as useful technical information, standards and manuals. Highlights of what is available for purchase:

  • Belt Conveyors for Bulk Materials 7th Edition – “The Belt Book”
  • Bucket Elevator Book Best Practices in Design
  • CEMA Application Guide for Unit Handling Conveyors 2nd Edition – “The Unit Book.”

These books are authoritative technical manuals for conveyor design worldwide. Some publications available in Portuguese and Spanish in addition to English.

For further information on CEMA, “The Voice of the Conveyor Industry of the Americas” or its member companies, or to order safety labels or CEMA publications, visit our website at www.cemanet.org.