Sales of extruders and extrusion equipment are helping the plastics industry hold onto its market share. While sales of new injection molding equipment is down, new extruder and auxiliary equipment have seen an increase in global demand. It may be hard to see growth in plastics overall in the near future, but growth is looking promising for 2018. If the US GDP remains in the 2% range or above, there is likely to continue to be growth. The ISM Manufacturing Index has averaged well above 50 for the first half of this year. And while the majority of plastics machinery suppliers expect market conditions to be steady or improve over the next year, more are being cautiously optimistic.
Housing starts, residential construction, appliance manufacturing and computer products have all seen growth in 2017. This growth requires extruded products such as PVC pipe, profile siding and windows, and plastic coated wire.
If you'd like to have an in-depth discussion about the plastics extrusion market including sheet, blown film, wire & cable, pipe and profile contact David Pietig, CEA.
