North American shipments of plastics machinery posted a sharp rise in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to statistics compiled and reported by SPI: the Plastics Industry Trade Association’s Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES; Washington, DC). For 2015 as a whole, annual shipments of plastics machinery increased for the sixth straight year.

Shipments of primary plastics equipment (injection molding, extrusion and blowmolding) for reporting companies totaled $390.6 million in Q4, 29% higher than the total of $302 million in Q3 of 2015, and 13% higher than the total of $346.1 million for Q4 2014. The total value of primary equipment shipments for all of 2015 was $1.29 billion, a gain of 4.8% when compared with the total from 2014, said the SPI CES report.

“Market conditions should remain strong in 2016, but the pace of growth in shipments data is expected to decelerate after six years of strong expansion,” according to Bill Wood of Mountaintop Economics & Research Inc. (Greenfield, MA). Wood is the plastics market economist who analyzes and reports on the plastics machinery market for the CES. “Since the Great Recession in 2009, the average annual growth rate for the CES shipments data has been a robust 22% per year.”

The shipments value of injection molding machinery jumped 18.2% in Q4 of 2015 when compared with the same period in 2014. For 2015 as a whole, shipments of injection molding machinery were up 6.4% when compared with the total from 2014.

The shipments value of single-screw extruders increased 16.9% in Q4 of 2015 compared with Q4 of 2014. For 2015 as a whole, single-screw extruder shipments were up 10.1% when compared with 2014. Twin-screw extruder shipments (including both co-rotating and counter-rotating machines) climbed 13.2% in Q4 of 2015 when compared with Q4 of 2014. For 2015 as a whole, shipments of twin-screw extruders decreased 5.3% when compared with 2014.

The shipments value of blowmolding machines dropped 52.9% in Q4 of 2015 when compared with Q4 of 2014. For 2014 as a whole, shipments of blowmolding machinery fell 27.5% when compared with 2014.

On April 11, the Association for Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA) released its USMTO (U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders) report for February, which showed that orders for machine tool technology were down 5.1% compared to the previous month, and down 12.8% compared to the same month in 2015. February 2016 manufacturing technology orders were valued at $270.9 million, compared to $310.7 million in February 2015. Overall orders for the year are down 16.3% compared to the same period in 2015.

“Orders for capital equipment continue to slump as the overall U.S. manufacturing industry battles the effects of a strong dollar and weak demand from international markets,” said the USMTO report. “While Europe, Japan and the United States are seeing economic expansion, China continues to struggle along with other emerging global economies. However, increasing commodity prices and other positive economic indicators could point to a more favorable climate for some sectors of U.S. manufacturing, particularly mining, construction and agriculture.”

AMT President Douglas K. Woods commented: “We have seen some better news about manufacturing, especially for the domestic market, but the industry will continue to face a number of economic challenges through much of the year. Our members are reporting more quotation activity for their products and equipment, and we expect an expanded market for manufacturing technology toward the fourth quarter. Additionally, a recent surge in housing starts is anticipated to give a boost to consumer spending, and the March PMI (Purchasing Managers Index from the Institute for Supply Management) showed expansion in the manufacturing sector for the first time in six months.”

For regional manufacturing technology orders, the USMTO report noted that activity was again strong from the automotive, medical and aerospace sectors, particularly in the Southeast. The South Central region also showed a gain in orders driven by the oil and gas exploration industry.