HARDI Announces Enhancement to Quarterly Economic Forecasts

Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced that its Chief Economist, Alan Beaulieu and the Institute for Trend Research (ITR®) has partnered with the Steel Market Update (SMU) to begin using the Steel Market Update galvanized price series as part of HARDI’s Quarterly Targeted Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies (TRENDS) Forecasts. The partnership with ITR® will provide SMU a more detailed understanding of the residential and commercial construction markets and analysis of steel pricing and supply trends.

"ITR® is pleased to partner with John Packard and Steel Market Update in the area of steel prices," says Beaulieu. "We believe the consistency of information and forecasts will be a tremendous benefit to HARDI members as they manage purchases and inventory. This arrangement only helps to reduce the great uncertainty which is so prevalent in the US today. HARDI members will also remember that we have talked about how we will be doing business in an inflationary environment beginning next year and extending for years to come. The old inventory and management methods will need to be updated in the face of this reality. Proper planning, which this arrangement enhances, can only be beneficial to the bottom line of HARDI members."

The next Quarterly TRENDS Forecasts using the Steel Market Update data will be released this month. Detailed forecasts for each U.S. region are provided to distributor members who participate in HARDI’s Monthly Sales TRENDS Reports and Premier Supplier Members. On October 13, 2010, HARDI will hold a 90-minute webinar overviewing the quarterly forecasts. Information on the 2:30 ET program can be found on the Events page of www.hardinet.org.  

For more information about HARDI’s Monthly TRENDS Reports, including access to the complete reports and the October 13 webinar program on the Quarterly TRENDS Forecasts, contact HARDI’s Talbot Gee at (888) 253-2128 or tgee@hardinet.org.