David Miller

The UK industrial truck market continues to recover for the third consecutive reporting period since January 2010, according to sales data released by the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA).

In the year ended June 2011, BITA members reported sales of over 24,000 units, 25% higher than the same period last year. The increase was reflected in both warehouse and counterbalance forklift sales.

Warehouse truck sales jumped to 12,400 units, boosted by strong demand from retailers and third-party logistics providers. Low-level order picker sales increased by two-thirds from the year before.

Counterbalance truck sales reached almost 12,000 units. Of these, 36% were diesel-powered, 34% electric and 30% gas.

David Miller, chair of BITA's statistics committee, says economic indicators suggest the risk of the UK entering a double-dip recession had lowered and the forklift market appears to be fighting back after 18 months of recession.

"Shifting business models within the retail sector have resulted in successes for bulk movers such as online shopping providers and daily goods businesses, including the UK's leading supermarkets. This has been good news for industrial truck sales, as has the creation of new distribution centres in the UK," he explains.

Miller adds that positive growth for the UK manufacturing sector also led to a strong hike in demand for counterbalance forklifts for the first six months of 2011.

"This has been supported by the return to the market of other business sectors with large counterbalance fleets, such as the supply chain to the construction industry, parcel delivery companies and drinks distributors," he says.

BITA secretary-general James Clark says the latest figures show that the UK forklift market is growing in line with the association's latest Economic Forecast published at its AGM in May.

"Based on what we have seen from the first half of 2011, we have high expectations that by the end of 2011 the market will exceed our full-year prediction of 25,000 units sold.

"After 18 months of continuous recovery, the forklift market has now climbed halfway back to its pre-recession high of 32,000 unit orders per year," Clark says.

In the UK, BITA is the sole provider of industrial truck sales statistics, contributed by, and made available monthly only, to its members. An overview of BITA's sales statistics is published externally twice yearly.