U.S. Plastics Machinery Shipments Shrink in First Quarter

North American primary plastics machinery shipments totaled $273.5 million in the first quarter, down 16.4% from the fourth quarter of 2025, but up 8.5% year-over-year, according to the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) report.

Shipments declined across all categories of primary plastics machinery in the first quarter, with twin-screw extrusion recording the largest decline, noted PLASTICS Chief Economist Perc Pineda. “First-quarter shipments are usually lower than fourth-quarter shipments, as business momentum tends to slow following a typically busy final quarter of the previous year,” Pineda said in a release, noting that at the turn of 2026, businesses likely adjusted pricing to reflect higher tariffs, which contributed to the double-digit reversal in shipments.

Twin-screw extrusion fell 51.2% from the previous quarter, while single-screw extrusion decreased 24.4%. Injection molding shipments declined 13.0% quarter over quarter but were up 19.0% over 2025. On a year-over-year basis, single-screw and twin-screw extrusion shipments fell 26.2% and 52.7%, respectively.

Calculated duties on U.S. plastics machinery imports more than tripled in the first quarter, increasing from $39.0 million in the first quarter of 2025 to $118.9 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to CES. CES survey results also showed supplier optimism softened, with the share of respondents expecting market conditions to improve over the next 12 months falling from 39% to 29%.

Despite higher tariffs, shipments increased in the second half of 2025. Previous market adjustments across the plastics industry supply chain amid higher tariffs likely came at a cost to businesses, many of which were unable to pass higher costs on to customers because of existing contracts.