Strong growth for forklift truck sales

Forklift truck sales rose by 8.2 per cent year-on-year, reaching 33,407 by the end of the third quarter of 2017, the British Industrial Truck Association has revealed.

This is the third successive quarter of growth, painting a picture of a sector that can withstand short-term economic fluctuations.

Retail distribution remained a major growth area with sales up 40 per cent on last year.

Sales into manufacturing sectors were up 5.9 per cent improvement on the previous year’s figure, reflecting the growth in UK manufacturing output this quarter.

Manufacturing remains the largest single sector user of industrial trucks, making up over a third (32 per cent) of sales.

Construction, which saw a 26 per cent increase in annualised sales at the start of the year, is now showing a drop of 3.4 per cent, reflecting the contraction in the construction sector over the last two consecutive quarters.

BITA secretary-general James Clark said: “Despite the uncertain economic environment, forklift sales have continued their recovery from the downturn seen during H2 of 2016, particularly in the retail distribution and manufacturing sectors.”