Extrusion International 6-2022-USA

28 Extrusion International 6/2022 28 INDUSTRY NEWS Plastics Machinery Shipment  The shipments of primary plastics machinery (injection molding and ex- trusion) in North America slowed in the third quarter according to the sta- tistics compiled and reported by the Plastics Industry Association’s (PLAS- TICS) Committee on Equipment Statis - tics (CES). The preliminary estimate of ship- ment value from reporting compa- nies totaled $353.8 million in the third quarter of 2022. While this is a decrease of 14.4% from the previous quarter, the estimate increased by 6.0% from a year earlier. Of the three primary plastics type of machinery, the value of injection molding ship- ments fell 17.1% in the third quarter. Shipments of single-and twin-screw extruders rose by 4.9% and 12.4%, re- spectively, in the third quarter. Com- pared to the third quarter last year, shipments of single-screw extruders fell by 13.1%while shipments of twin- screw extruders rose by 19.3%. “It can be argued that the slow- down in plastics machinery shipment in the third quarter is in sync with the cooling of the U.S. economy. How- ever, compared to the quarterly ship- ments in 2021 – a stellar year for the plastics industry particularly for plas- tics equipment suppliers – this year’s third quarter shipments remain above the first three quarters’ shipments last year,” stated Dr. Perc Pineda, PLAS - TICS Chief Economic Officer. “His - torically, there is a bump up in ship- ments in the fourth quarter. This was the case even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Given supply chain issues due to the pandemic, which have stretched delivery lead time, it would not be surprising to see shipments in the fourth quarter to be above the third quarter. There is also a huge year-end push for businesses to get their manufacturing capacity in gear for the coming year. This should sup- port stable demand for plastics equip- ment next year, albeit lower than this year because of moderating economic growth”concluded Pineda. The CES also conducts a quarterly survey of plastics machinery suppli- ers that asks about present market conditions and expectations for the future. The outlook of the survey participants, particularly for the next 12 months, has not changed signifi - cantly. While 31.3% of the survey re- spondents expect market conditions to either improve or hold steady in the next quarter, 34.4% expect mar- ket conditions to be steady-to-better, which was marginally lower than the 35.0% in the second quarter’s survey results. “The outlook for the next 12 months virtually unchanged from the second suggests that plastics equip- ment suppliers have considered slow- er economic growth ahead and have not strategized accordingly for the 2023,” said Pineda. Plastics machinery exports de- creased by 10.2% to $198.8 million in the third quarter. Mexico and Canada remained the top export markets of plastics machinery from the U.S. in the third quarter. The combined exports toUSMCApartners totaled $109.7mil - lion, which was 65.9% of total plastics machinery exports of the U.S. Imports decreased by 12.1% to $423.6 million in the third quarter. U.S. plastics ma- chinery trade deficit narrowed from $260.7 million in the second quarter to $224.7 million in the third quarter. Moderating global economic growth and a strong U.S. dollar is slowing plastics machinery trade. “In sum, the third quarter data is consistent with the projected growth in plastics machinery shipments for the second half of 2022. However, the U.S. manufacturing sector contin- ues to face headwinds – elevated en- ergy prices, rising interest rates, and inflation – which could weigh on the economy’s manufacturing output in 2023,” said Pineda. Comments With General Services Administration Filed The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) filed comments with the General Services Administration (GSA), in response to an advance no - tice of proposed rulemaking which could ban the purchase of single- use plastics by federal government agencies through the GSA. Included in PLASTICS’ official submission are examples of the detrimental impacts such a rulemaking would have on consumers, businesses, the broader economy, and the environment. “If this proposal moves forward, it will run directly counter to the admin- istration’s environmental goals to re- duce emissions,” said Matt Seaholm, President, and CEO of the Plastics In- dustry Association (PLASTICS). “This proposal would not only cost taxpay- ers millions and millions of dollars, it would force the use of products and materials that will have a much larger environmental footprint than the plas- tic products the administration would be looking to phase out. In the limited amount of time the GSA provided for public comment, PLASTICS compiled multiple examples of how plastics materials, in most applications, per- Dr. Perc Pineda Matt Seaholm