Tellock, president and CEO of the US manufacturer, explained, “The traditional lifting markets of North America and Western Europe continue to perform as expected in this current cycle. It is the strength and depth of demand in the emerging markets that gives us the confidence to make meaningful additions to our crane production capacity on a global basis. Customer feedback, coupled with our own market research, shows that the demand for lift solutions in emerging markets will continue to outpace current industry production capacity for several years.”
Tellock pointed to recent investment in production in India, Slovakia, and the company’s home state, Wisconsin, as evidence of Manitowoc’s confidence in an ongoing boom in the crane industry. Manitowoc’s crane business segment reported net sales for the quarter up 39% to $812.3m. Operating earnings for the third quarter of 2007 increased 48 percent to $112.3m, from $76.1m in the same period last year. Backlog totalled $2.7bn at September 30, 2007, an increase of 28 percent from June 30, 2007 and nearly double the level achieved at September 30, 2006.
“Demand for our full line of lifting solutions continues to be strong in all regions and for nearly all product lines,” said Tellock. “Our view of the industry is that demand will remain strong through the end of the decade, with the potential for additional infrastructure and industrial projects in emerging markets to push that window of demand out even farther. Maintaining our global leadership position during this time of robust demand will remain an important strategic objective. Our investments in global capacity expansion are aimed at enhancing our ability to deliver and support high-quality products around the world in a timeframe that meets customer requirements.”
