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Processing Making Slow, Steady Progress

Plastics processing activity didn’t make its way into expansion territory in March, but seems headed in that direction.  

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The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Plastics Processing registered 48.6 for March, up 1.6 points from February’s 47. The index is based on survey responses from subscribers to Plastics Technology. Indices above 50 signal growth; below 50, contraction.

New orders, production and backlog — all steadily posting slowing contraction — drove the Index in March. Supplier deliveries lengthened faster again, potentially signaling higher demand in March. Exports and employment were essentially nonfactors, staying relatively stable in the contraction zone during March.

Plastics Processing Business Conditions

FIG 1 Plastics processing activity contracted more slowly in March, as did custom processing activity for the fifth month straight.

Business optimism took its first dip in five months in March, but barely so, such that it was more of a leveling. Overall business activity for custom plastics processing paralleled total plastics processing in March, landing at the same value.

Plastics Processing Business Conditions

FIG 2 New orders, production, and backlog all contracted at a slower rate in March. Source: Gardner Intelligence

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jan Schafer is director of market research for Gardner Business Media, parent company of both Plastics Technology magazine and Gardner Intelligence. She has led research and analysis in several industries for over 30 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University. She credits Procter & Gamble for 15 years of the best business education. Contact: 513-527-8952; jschafer@gardnerweb.com.

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