Market Data

Long-delayed equipment investments, a resurgent automotive market, and one of the world's largest plastics shows came together last spring to help push a number of equipment suppliers in North America to record performances in 2012, including automation and injection molding machine supplier Engel.

"[NPE2012] certainly didn't hurt; we really couldn't have timed it any better," Engel North America President Mark Sankovitch told PlasticsToday. "The show was just one part of multiple pieces-everything aligned."

Engel North America's sales hit a record last year, exploding 236% from $59.5 million in the depths of the recession in 2010 to $200 million for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Encompassing the U.S., Canada, and the maquiladora zone of Mexico, Engel's North American business, like its Austrian parent, has shown year-over-year growth since 2009, according to the company.

The plastics industry is doing relatively well in spite of economic concerns and weakness in some sectors supplied by plastics processors. That's the analysis given by Michael Taylor, Senior Director of Internal Affairs & Trade for the Society of the Plastics Industry, speaking at the 'Business of Plastics @ ANTEC' conference.

Europe continues to be largest consuming region for biodegradable polymers, accounting for more than half of global total, says a newly published IHS Chemical global market research report.

Just three years ago, Mexico was on the comeback trail as more U.S. manufacturers looked to our southern neighbor for labor cost savings that were starting to erode in China. Mexican states competed heavily for foreign investment with “unprecedented” financial incentives, according to a report from www.mexicogov.org released in March 2010.
   

When Plante & Moran LLC, a certified accounting, tax and business consulting firm, held a seminar in March regarding manufacturing in Mexico, they were hoping to get 40-50 people. Scott Sneckenberger, partner Global Services for Plante & Moran who led the seminar, told PlasticsToday that they were totally surprised when 87 people showed up for the Detroit-area event.
   

The assets of injection molder Core Systems LLC (Painesville, OH) are set to go up for auction again following the company's February closing after the Whirlpool Corporation terminated its contract with Core. The molder had two plants, one in Mount Gilead, OH and the company's headquarters plant in Painesville, OH.

Absolute Haitian enjoyed its best year ever in 2012, almost doubling total sales bookings over 2011, with much of the growth coming from a resurgent automotive market, particularly some first-time sales into transplant automotive OEM suppliers.

The spot polyethylene market began the month sliding a half-cent from March month-end levels, while spot Generic Prime polypropylene prices held steady. Spot resin trading was fairly active for the first week of April, according to spot-trading platform, The Plastics Exchange (TPE). Fresh railcar offers were slow to flow, TPE noted, but the pace picked up as the week wore on. National resellers and Houston traders, sensing lower prices ahead, provided good market liquidity from their warehoused stocks.