Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Al Kaschalk - Wedbush Morgan.
Al Kaschalk - Wedbush Morgan
Larry, I wanted to start on sort of the more macro side here on the volume of activity, what change you may have seen relative to your customer base across each of the segments as you’ve looked out over the next 12-months to 18-months and specifically if you can comment on whether you’re seeing any slowdown in that activity or maybe just some hesitations as we look out?
Larry Washow
Sure, I think the areas that are a bit concerning, Al I won’t surprise you at all, the metal casting certainly is a big business for us. A fair portion of metal casting products end up in automotive applications and there is no question that the automotive market is down and we’re seeing that particularly in the U.S., but even in some of the international operations there is a bit of slowdown. So metal casting, it’s not a new trend, it’s been ongoing all year and we expect that to continue to be soft; I think certainly for the foreseeable future well under 2009.
The offset to that, some of heavy equipment guys here in moving and farm equipment have been fairly strong and that continues to be the case as well. Now with the overall commodity slowdown whether some of the major corporations without moving equipment are ultimately impacted, but that time will tell, but so far that business has been pretty steady.
Looking at environmental, the process we see there is primarily in the building materials area, where commercial buildings again certainly we’re benefiting now from projects that were started a years or two year ago that are going on, but the rate of that activity going forward certainly looks like its slowing down at least in the U.S. and some of the Western European economy.
We don’t see similar slowdowns in China, we don’t see similar slowdowns in Eastern Europe. So, there certainly will be somewhat of an offset, but in terms of the kind of Western economic growth areas, that would be one that will be a concern. Some of the offset, there are two government buildings, infrastructure projects; all of those also use our environmental materials, so we do expect a bit of an offset there to migrate some of that softness, but your question on the amount of softness there.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
