Plastics remained a bright spot for U.S. trade in 2008

Despite a decline of 23% in the final quarter of the year, U.S. plastic exports increased by 6.7% in 2008 and eclipsed $50 billion for the first time ever, according to the latest international trade statistics for the plastics industry, which are summarized in a new report from the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI; Washington, DC).

Exports during the fourth quarter of 2008 were off 23% from the prior quarter and 12% from the same quarter in 2007, but for the year, they exceeded $51 billion and accounted for approximately 4.4% of all U.S. exports. An overall trade surplus in plastics was not only maintained but expanded, as imports increased, but by only 3.0%, to just under $39 billion. The overall plastics trade surplus grew by nearly 20% from $10.9 billion in 2007 to $13.0 billion in 2008. Much of that surplus resulted from $18.4 billion in resins and raw material exports.

SPI reports that 20% of the plastics produced in the U.S. was exported overseas, with more than 50% of the plastics machinery and 40% of the resin made in the U.S. shipped abroad. Canada and Mexico remain America’s largest plastics trading partners, with just over 42% of U.S. plastics exports heading to our immediate neighbors. The industry’s largest trade deficit of $5.2 billion remained with China.

SPI Senior Director for International Trade and Trade Counsel Neil Pratt noted that while exports have remained significantly down in 2009, plastics exports through July have shown steady increases for six straight months, rebounding more than 30% from their January 2009 low.
 
According to the U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Div., the U.S. as a whole registered a trade deficit of $816.1 billion in 2008, up from $808.7 billion in 2007 but down from $827.9 billion in 2006. Through the first eight months of 2009, the US. trade deficit with the world was $310.2 billion. As a display of its rapid growth, the total trade deficit in 1998 was $229.7 billion. —Tony Deligio