NA plastics machinery shipments rise for 3rd straight quarter
by ChemOrbis Editorial Team - content@chemorbis.com
According to the Plastics Industry Trade Association, SPI’s Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES), shipments of plastics machinery rose for the third straight quarter in North America during the second quarter of 2016.
Shipments of primary plastics equipment (injection molding, extrusion, and blow molding equipment) for reporting companies totaled US$312.1 million in the second quarter. This was up 2% from the same period last year, although it was down 5.6% from Q1. Year to date, shipments are up 7.6% compared with the first two quarters of 2015.
“Gains in the US GDP were disappointing in the first half of 2016, but economic growth will be closer to the long-term trend in the second half of the year,” said Bill Wood, of Mountaintop Economics & Research Inc., the plastics market economist who analyzes and reports on the plastics machinery market for the CES. “This means consumer demand for plastics products will gradually increase for the foreseeable future. Our outlook for the economy is little changed – annual, real GDP growth will be in the range of 2% due primarily to a slow, but steady improvement in wages and household incomes resulting from stronger employment levels,” he added.
As for the major end-markets, the respondents to the Q2 survey expect that medical and packaging will enjoy the strongest growth in demand for plastics products and equipment in the coming year. The expectations for the automotive market are mixed. Expectations for all other end-markets call for steady-to-better demand to prevail in 2016.
Shipments of primary plastics equipment (injection molding, extrusion, and blow molding equipment) for reporting companies totaled US$312.1 million in the second quarter. This was up 2% from the same period last year, although it was down 5.6% from Q1. Year to date, shipments are up 7.6% compared with the first two quarters of 2015.
“Gains in the US GDP were disappointing in the first half of 2016, but economic growth will be closer to the long-term trend in the second half of the year,” said Bill Wood, of Mountaintop Economics & Research Inc., the plastics market economist who analyzes and reports on the plastics machinery market for the CES. “This means consumer demand for plastics products will gradually increase for the foreseeable future. Our outlook for the economy is little changed – annual, real GDP growth will be in the range of 2% due primarily to a slow, but steady improvement in wages and household incomes resulting from stronger employment levels,” he added.
As for the major end-markets, the respondents to the Q2 survey expect that medical and packaging will enjoy the strongest growth in demand for plastics products and equipment in the coming year. The expectations for the automotive market are mixed. Expectations for all other end-markets call for steady-to-better demand to prevail in 2016.
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