Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) reported Wednesday global sales of
machinery by its dealers in October were down 12% from a year
earlier, while sales of power systems, mainly engines, fell 9%.
Both measures deteriorated from September, when dealer sales of
machinery declined 9% and power systems were down 2%. Peoria,
Ill.-based Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction
and mining machinery, has been suffering from a sharp drop in
orders from mining companies and sluggish demand for equipment used
for such things as commercial building and road construction.
As a result, Caterpillar has recently closed some of its smaller
mining-equipment plants and laid off thousands of workers and
managers. Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman last month said
Caterpillar was on a "cost-lockdown binge" to sustain profitability
amid weaker demand.
Machinery sales fell 26% in the Asia-Pacific region, 14% in
Europe, Africa and the Middle East, 8% in Latin America and 2% in
North America. Power systems sales dropped 27% in the
transportation category and 21% in electric power but climbed 16%
in industrial. Power systems for the petroleum industry were
unchanged from a year earlier.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires