Injection Molding Shipments Continue Slide, Extrusion a Bright Spot

The Plastics Industry Association’s (PLASTICS) Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) released third-quarter shipment data for primary plastics machinery in North America, with total shipment value down 1.5%  to $345.8 million from the previous quarter’s revised figure of $351.0 million. Year over year, total shipment value was down 2.3%.

Single-screw extruders surged upward 30.5% quarter-over-quarter and were up 75.3% on a year-over-year basis. Twin-screw extruders grew 30.3% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, while rising 2.9% year over year. Injection molding shipments continued to decline, shrinking 2.3% on a quarterly basis and down 8.0% annually, as the sector marked its third consecutive quarter of decline.

Perc Pineda, Chief Economist at PLASTICS, noted that at the start of 2023, there was a double-digit decline in primary plastics machinery shipments, and then — following a 1.5% gain in shipments during the second quarter — the market reversed course with 1.5% loss in the third quarter. “The decline in shipments seems to have moderated on both a quarterly and year-over-year basis, aligning with the rising economic output from the first to the third quarter of this year,” Pineda says.

In the most recent quarterly survey of plastics machinery suppliers, there was an increase in participants anticipating an improvement in market conditions over the next 12 months. The percentage of respondents expecting conditions to either remain the same or improve rose to 56.1%.

In the third quarter, U.S. exports of plastics equipment surged 7.2% from the previous quarter and jumped 36.3% from a year earlier to $270.9 million. More than half of these exports (55.4%) were directed to Mexico and Canada, totaling $150.1 million. Imports decreased 16.5% from the previous quarter and 9.5% from a year earlier, totaling $383.0 million. This shift led to a 45.5% decrease in the plastics equipment trade deficit, which reached $112.1 million.