US Presses Shipments Increased By 15.1% Year-On-Year
In the first quarter of 2018, the total shipments of presses (mainly injection molding machines and extruders) totaled $333.7 million, which was 15.1% higher than the $1.9 billion in plastic machine shipments in the first quarter of 2017, but compared to 2017. In the fourth quarter of the year, the shipment of plastic presses decreased by 11.7%.
According to the product breakdown, the shipment volume of injection molding machines increased by 22.9% in the first quarter of 2018, and the shipment amount of single-screw extruders decreased by 14.6%. The shipments of twin-screw extruders (both in the same direction and in the opposite direction) decreased by 27.1%.
“For seasonal reasons, the amount of presses shipped in the first quarter of each year is usually lower than in other quarters,” said Perc Pineda, chief economist at the American Plastics Industry Association. “However, the US economy had a good start in the first quarter. Last year, corporate tax law reforms boosted corporate confidence. In manufacturing (including plastics processing), press shipment data was in sync with steady corporate profits.