news
North America machine sales dip in Q4 2016
Deliveries of North American plastics machinery saw a decline in the final quarter of 2016. The Plastics Industry Association in the US said this was the second consecu- tive quarterly decrease – the first instance of back-to-back quarterly decline since the industry’s recovery began in 2010. The preliminary estimate for ship- ments of primary plastics equipment was nearly $362 million in the fourth quarter – 7.4% percent lower than the Q4 2015 figure, but 24% higher than Q3 2016. For the whole year, shipments of primary plastics equipment rose 1.2% compared to 2015. “After rising steadily for six years, shipments of plastics equipment hit a plateau in 2016,”said Bill Wood, the economist who puts the report together. The shipment value of single-screw
extruders fell more than 9% in Q4, while that of twin-screw extruders – including both co-rotating and counter-rotating machines – fell around 8% in the same period. For comparison, injection moulding machinery was down more than 12%, while blow moulding machines rose more than 9%. New bookings of ancillary equipment were flat at around $127m.
Demand from industries such as con- struction helped to boost sales of North American extrusion machinery in 2016
The decline in the fourth quarter, and small gain for the entire year, were comparable to the performance of the entire industrial machinery industry. According to data from the Census Bureau, the value of new orders of US industrial machinery fell 1.6% in Q4 of 2016, but increased by 0.6% for the whole year. “After a modest decline in 2016,
overall demand for plastics products in the US will start to rise again in 2017,” said Wood. “Our forecast for the economy in 2017 calls for annual, real GDP growth in the range of 3% due primarily to steady improvement in wages and household incomes resulting from stronger employment levels.” ❙
www.plasticsindustry.org
Charter Nex to change hands
US buyout specialist firm Leonard Green has won an auction to acquire Charter Nex Films for $1.5 billion, according to a report from Reuters. Charter Nex makes speciality films for
the food and medical industries, and is currently owned by private equity company Pamplona Capital Management. The deal values Charter Nex at around 14 times its 12-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortiza- tion, according to the report.
www.filmandsheet.com Based in Milton, Wisconsin, Charter
Nex makes speciality polyethylene film for food, consumer packaging and industrial and medical applications. It last changed hands in 2015, when Pamplona bought it from Mason Wells. In late 2015, Charter Nex acquired Optimum Plastics, a producer of high performance PE film, from Huron Capital Partners. Optimum specialises in cast embossed film structure and laminations. ❙
www.charternex.com
STRETCHING THE LIMITS
High Quality Film Production Lines: Efficiency, Productivity, Flexibility
A Member of Brückner Group
Visit us at CHINAPLAS Booth 5.1 A65
Guangzhou May 16-19
www.brueckner.com
April 2017 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 11
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