Distribution-North America as a result of double-digit sales growth in Corporate Accounts and Tier II relationships. Barnes Group sales year-to-date increased 13 percent to $930.8 million. More …

Wesco International Inc., distributor of electrical MRO products and construction materials, sales were $1,343 million in the third quarter 2006, an increase of 18.7 percent from the prior-year period. Profit was $59.4 million, versus $25 million last year. Sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2006, were $3,945 million, a 23.9 percent increase from last year. Sales from two acquisitions for the first nine months were $317 million. Profit for the 2006 year-to-date period was $159 million, versus $11.3 million last year. More …

Reliance Steel & Aluminum, Los Angeles, CA, sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006, were $1.6 billion, an increase of 87 percent compared with 2005 third quarter sales of $870.1 million. Net income was $107.5 million, twice the profit of the same period last year.
Reliance’s third quarter results include Yarde Metals, Inc. acquired on Aug. 1, 2006, and Earle M. Jorgensen Company acquired on April 3, 2006. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2006, profit amounted to a record $279.9 million, up 93 percent, and sales for the 2006 year-to-date period were a record $4.2 billion, an increase of 67 percent. More …

Genuine Parts Company, Atlanta, GA, reported sales increased 6 percent to $2.7 billion for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006. Net income was $121.3 million, an increase of 9 percent from the same period a year ago. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2006, sales totaled $7.9 billion, up 7 percent compared to the same period in 2005. Net income for the nine months was $355.9 million, an increase of 8 percent. Motion Industries grew sales by 11 percent, and EIS, the Electrical Group, posted a 23 percent sales increase for the quarter. S.P. Richards, the Office Products Group, generated a 5 percent sales increase for the quarter and the Automotive Group increased sales by 1 percent in the quarter. More …

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation, Cleveland, OH, sales for the third quarter 2006 were up 13 percent from the same period a year ago. Sales were $3.12 billion. Net income rose 25 percent to $248 million. “While the non-residential electrical and hydraulics markets remain strong, and the heavy-duty truck market should post a strong finish to the year, markets likely to weaken during the quarter are the residential construction market for our electrical products, North American and Brazilian automotive production, and Brazilian agricultural equipment production,” said Chairman and CEO Alexander M. Cutler. More …

The Fastenal Company, Winona, MN, had sales of $470 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006, an increase of 16.9 percent over the same period in 2005. Profit increased 17.8 percent to $54.1 million. Sales for the first nine months totaled $1.36 billion, an increase of 19.4 percent over the same period in 2005. Profit increased 20.2 percent to $153 million.  More …

US Electrical Services, LLC (USESI), Exton, PA, has opened two new locations for Monarch Electric Company. The first location in Ronkonkoma, NY, will service the Long Island market. The second location in Belford, NJ, houses the company’s newly formed Hardware Group. This group is focused on expanding the company’s growth in the Hardware market including cable tray, strut, fasteners and tools. More …

Grainger, Chicago, IL, sales rose 6 percent for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006, to $1.5 billion versus $1.4 billion in the 2005 third quarter. Daily sales increased by 8 percent. Net earnings were up 19 percent to $104.5 million. Sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2006, were $4.4 billion, up 7 percent versus the first nine months of 2005. Net earnings increased to $284.5 million versus $242.5 million in 2005. More …

Court Carruthers, 34, has been named president of Grainger’s Canadian subsidiary, Acklands-Grainger Inc. Carruthers’ new responsibilities include growing and improving Grainger’s business operations in Canada, which had sales of $428 million USD for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2006. Carruthers joined Acklands-Grainger in 2002 as vice president, national accounts and sales. Acklands-Grainger has more than 160 branches and five distribution centers. More …

UK-based Wolseley plc, parent to Ferguson and Stock Building Supply, and global distributor of plumbing and heating products and building materials, has made four more bolt-on acquisitions, expected to add about $278.24 million in additional revenue. Ferguson has acquired Lawrence Plumbing Supply Co. and Castle Supply Company Inc. and Castle North Corporation (Castle Group). Castle Group is a distributor of plumbing products with 27 locations with revenue of $165.3 million. Ferguson has also acquired Northern Water Works Supply, a wholesaler of waterworks products in north central U.S. with revenue of $91.2 million. More …

MSC Industrial Direct, Inc., Melville, NY, distributor of MRO supplies to industrial customers in the U.S., reported sales for fiscal 2006 were $1.32 billion, a 19.8 percent increase over fiscal 2005. Profit was $136.4 million, an increase of 21.5 percent. Sales for the fourth quarter were $385.9 million, an increase of 39.4 percent. J & L Industrial Supply contributed $67.9 million in sales in the fourth quarter. Profit for the fourth quarter rose 21 percent to $34.1 million. More …

Industrial production decreased 0.6 percent in September after having been unchanged in August. For the third quarter as a whole, industrial production rose at an annual rate of 3.6 percent, down from the rapid pace of gains in the previous three quarters. Output in the manufacturing sector declined 0.3 percent in September, a decrease that slightly more than reversed its upwardly revised gain of 0.2 percent in August. Capacity utilization for total industry declined 0.6 percentage point, to 81.9 percent. Even so, this rate of capacity utilization was higher than the rates recorded from mid-2000 to early 2006. More …

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 1.3 percent in September. This decline followed increases of 0.1 percent in both August and July. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods moved down 1.4 percent in September after increasing 0.4 percent in the preceding month, and the crude goods index dropped 3.4 percent following a 2.2-percent gain in August. More …

August 2006 sales of merchant wholesalers were $335.6 billion, up 1.1 percent from the revised July level and were up 12.5 percent from the August 2005 level. The July preliminary estimate was revised upward $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent. Compared to last month, sales of electrical and electrical goods were up 4.3 percent and machinery, equipment, and supplies increased 2.8 percent. August sales of nondurable goods were up 0.9 percent from last month, and were up 14.4 percent from last year. More …

August U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $300.15 million, according to AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total was up 3.4 percent from July and up 2.1 percent from the total of $294.10 million reported for August 2005. With a year-to-date total of $2,381.37 million, 2006 was up 22.3 percent compared with 2005. More …

Privately-owned housing starts in September were 5.9 percent above the revised August estimate, but are 17.9 percent below the September 2005 rate of 2,158,000. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were 6.3 percent below the revised August rate and is 27.7 percent below the September 2005 estimate. More …

DXP Enterprises, Inc., Houston, TX, has acquired Safety International, Odessa, TX, for $2.2 million in cash and approximately $.5 million worth of debt. The unaudited sales and EBITDA for the acquired business for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2006, were $4.4 million and $0.6 million, respectively. DXP Enterprises, Inc., has also acquired Gulf Coast Torch & Regulator, Inc., a full-service distributor of welding supplies in Houston, TX, for $5.5 million and $0.2 million in debt. The unaudited sales and EBITDA for the acquired business for the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2006, were $13.2 million and $850,000, respectively. More …

Praxair Distribution Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., Danbury, CT, has acquired Hobart Industrial Gases of Fort Wayne, IN. Hobart supplies a wide array of packaged industrial, medical and specialty gases, welding equipment, supplies and services to Indiana and Ohio. Two other recent acquisitions have also expanded Praxair’s service area in North America. These are A-1 Welding Products, in Dickinson and Bismarck, ND, and S-L Liquid of Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada. More …

RBS Global, Inc., the parent company of Rexnord Corporation, will acquire the plumbing products business of Jacuzzi Brands, Inc. for $950 million in cash. This acquisition, expected to close in the first quarter 2007, will create a new strategic water management platform for Rexnord. More …

Jacuzzi Brands Inc., West Palm Beach, FL, and its directors have been named as defendants in two purported stockholder class-action lawsuits filed Oct. 13, 2006, in the Chancery Court of the State of Delaware. The lawsuits allege that the directors have breached their fiduciary duties because they agreed to sell to a private equity firm, Apollo Management, which owns RBS and Rexnord. The complaints seek injunctive relief and damages. Jacuzzi says the lawsuits are without merit. More …

Barnes Distribution sales were $135.4 million in the third quarter 2006, up 19 percent from the year-ago quarter, including $16.3 million in sales from acquisitions, primarily the KENT acquisition that closed July 31, 2006. Organic sales growth was driven by Barnes