Plastics machinery shipments stay strongin Q4

Business levels for manufacturers and suppliers of primary plastics machinery (injection moulding, extrusion, blow moulding, and thermoforming equipment) posted another strong quarterly performance in the fourth quarter of 2013. According to statistics compiled and reported by the Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of SPI (the Society of the Plastics Industry), shipments of primary plastics equipment for reporting companies totalled an estimated 335.1 million dollars in fourth quarter.
This was the strongest quarterly total for all of 2013. The fourth quarter total represented a gain of 3% when compared with the impressive total from the third quarter of 2013, and it was just slightly lower than the outstanding total from the fourth quarter of 2012. For 2013 as a whole, the total value for primary plastics equipment shipments was up a solid 8% when compared with the annual total from 2012.
The shipments value of injection moulding machinery decreased 5% in the fourth quarter when compared with the unusually large total from the fourth quarter of 2012. The shipments value of single-screw extruders slipped 2%, but the value of shipments of twin-screw extruders spiked up 72%. The shipments value for blow moulding machines jumped 91% in the fourth quarter. The shipments total for the volatile thermoforming equipment sector fell 34% in the fourth quarter when compared with last year.
The CES also compiles data on the auxiliary equipment segment (robotics, temperature control, materials handling etc.) of the plastics machinery industry. New bookings of auxiliary equipment for reporting companies totalled 101.3 million dollars in the fourth quarter. This represented a 1% gain when compared with the robust total from the third quarter of 2013. Precise year-ago comparisons for the auxiliary equipment data are not possible at the present time due to a significant change in the number of reporting companies for 2013. It can be reasonably concluded that the four-year uptrend in this data continued, and the quarterly and annual totals for 2013 represent a solid gain when matched with the comparable totals from 2012.
The gain in the CES data on plastics machinery shipments compares favorably to the increases in the two major data series compiled by the US government that measure activity levels in the industrial machinery sector. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, business investment in industrial equipment rose by 3% (seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate) in the fourth quarter than in the same period of 2012. The other important machinery market indicator, compiled by the Census Bureau, showed that the total value of shipments of industrial machinery escalated 25% in the fourth quarter.
The CES also conducts a quarterly survey of plastics machinery suppliers that asks about present market conditions and expectations for the future. The responses from the fourth quarter survey were little changed from the third quarter survey, and they reveal an upbeat attitude that is broad-based across the industry. When asked about expectations for future market conditions, 87% of the respondents expect conditions to stay the same or even improve in the coming quarter, and 95% expect them to hold steady or get better during the next 12 months. North America and Mexico are still the regions where the strongest gains are expected, but expectations slipped a bit for Europe and Latin America. As for the major end-markets, the respondents expect that automotive, medical, and packaging will continue to be the strongest in terms of demand for plastics products and equipment. Expectations for the appliance and construction sectors were significantly improved.