Orders for forklift trucks have risen 20 per cent in the past year, according to figures from the British Industrial Truck Association.
BITA members reported sales of 26,100 units for the year to December 2011, 4,300 more than the previous year. And orders are 48 per cent up on December 2009.
[asset_ref id=”1473″] David Miller
David Miller chair of BITA’s statistics committee, said: “These latest sales figures suggest that demand for industrial trucks, while still growing overall, is becoming more segmented than it was in 2010 when all forklift categories witnessed growth.”
Engine counterbalance trucks accounted for more than a third of all orders, with 8,800 sales in 2011, a 26 per cent increase year-on-year. Growth was driven chiefly by significant orders from the automotive and road haulage industries and the supply chain to the construction industry, along with a renewal of several BITA members’ own short-term hire fleets.
The powered pallet truck market saw a 50 per cent year-on-year increase during 2011.
BITA secretary general James Clark said: “We may not see the same high levels of growth in forklift truck orders over the coming months that BITA members enjoyed in 2010 and 2011, but there is every reason to expect that market demand will continue to increase.”
