Caterpillar had a strong 2011, and there’s optimism for the new year. Is that great news for South Milwaukee?
Check out the Wall Street Journal story on Cat’s annual earnings here. From it:
Caterpillar said it is racing to expand capacity for mining equipment and has such a big backlog that it won’t be able to deliver on some orders for large mining trucks until 2014. Whether those delays lead to a loss of business depends on how fast Caterpillar and its competitors can expand production, Edward Rapp, Caterpillar’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. “We are absolutely committed to hitting goals” for higher capacity, he added.
“The orders are there,” said Lawrence De Maria, an analyst for brokerage firm Robert W. Baird. “Now they just have to get capacity up to meet that demand.” The company expects to spend about $4 billion on capital investments in 2012, about half of which will be in the U.S.
Let’s hope some of that investment comes in South Milwaukee.
(Check out similar stories in Bloomberg, the New York Times, and Reuters.)
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