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Market Analysis

Analysis: Inside Distribution’s Inflation Delay

Front-loaded inventories have buffered industrial buyers from sticker shock at distributors’ branch and digital shelves …for now. We examine if inflation finally showed up in July, and what large distributors are saying about pricing and inventory plans for the rest of 2025.

August 18, 2025

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July’s wholesale inflation jump

may be the first real sign of tariff-driven inflation showing up in economic indicators after months of relatively muted figures, but further analysis indicates that industrial buyers may still avoid sticker shock until at least later this fall. July’s U.S. Producer Price Index saw its biggest one-month increase in more than three years, following an unexpectedly flat June, though June’s 0.6% core inflation gain was seen as a warning sign.

MDM’s 2Q25 MarketPulse Report (store link)

But with distributors still selling through inventory stocks they built up from…

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