Last week I had the opportunity to attend ContiTech’s grand opening event for its new hydraulic hose manufacturing facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The company built the new plant to help meet growing demand it sees for hydraulic hose products in the coming years, particularly in the Americas region, which the facility will serve.

Although the hydraulics industry and many of its customer markets have experienced challenging market conditions since 2024, as Andreas Gerstenberger, CEO of ContiTech USA and Head of Business Area Industrial Solutions Americas, told me, these markets are cyclical. We are currently in a down part of the cycle; an upswing will come, and ContiTech expects long-term growth potential for the sector going forward as demand picks up in sectors utilizing hydraulic hoses such as manufacturing and off-highway equipment. Check out our top story in this month’s newsletter to learn more about the growth potential ContiTech sees for this segment of the fluid power industry as well as why it chose Mexico for the new facility and the investments it is making in advanced manufacturing technologies.

Another example in this month’s newsletter of market growth for the hydraulic hose sector comes from our news piece about PIRTEK achieving strong third quarter results in 2025. The industrial and hydraulic hose repair and service company told me it has continued to see steady demand for its services, even as other sectors have slowed down because of ongoing economic uncertainty. Maintenance is usually considered ‘recession proof’ as there is always a need to service machines to keep them running as desired. And when the economy is not faring as well, machine owners are more likely to invest in maintaining equipment to extend its life instead of purchasing new machines.

Through these and other pieces in this month’s newsletter, such as our piece highlighting agricultural equipment industry trends on display at Agritechnica 2025, we can see there are signs of positivity in the fluid power market and the various sectors it serves.  

What industries or market sectors have you seen positive momentum in this year? How have you seen the fluid power industry fare in 2025, and how do you expect it to perform in 2026? Take our brief survey to offer your thoughts or email me directly at [email protected].

Sara Jensen, Editor, Power & Motion