news German machinery sales trend up…


VDMA, the association of German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers, said it expects sales for 2017 to increase by 4% in real terms to reach a year-end total of €7.73bn. The forecast follows an “extremely pleasing development in export markets” in the second half of 2016, according to VDMA chairman Ulrich Reifenhäuser. The second half increase in


export activity pushed German plastics machinery export growth for 2016 to 5.1%, taking total exports to €4.9bn. VDMA said this was achieved despite the fact that world trade in plas- tics and rubber machinery rose by only 1%. Germany’s share of world trade in plastics machin- ery now stands at 22.8%. German machinery output


German Production – Export – Import Change over previous year


8.000 m€


6.000 4.000 2.000 0


In Mio. € 2016: 7.433 2017E: 7.730 2018E: 7.962


Production Export Import


E=Forecast


2016/2015 +6.0%


2017/2016 +4.0%


2018/2017 +3.0%


2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017E 2018E Source: VDMA


rose by 6.0% to €7.4 billion in 2016, near double the 3.1% growth recorded for global plastics machinery production as a whole (VDMA estimates world plastics machinery production value stood at €34.9bn last year). The association forecasts a further 3% rise in sales for 2018 to €7.96bn.


The industry has also


benefited from a strong local market. Sales in Germany were up 8.2% in 2016 to €3.69bn. Imports into Germany were also up 8.9% to €1.2 billion, with Austria the single largest supplier. The US market, which


accounted for sales of German machinery worth €774m last year and is the country’s largest export market,


remained strong in Q1 of this year. VDMA said sales have also shot up in Mexico by 58.3% (its third largest market) and in South Korea by 44.6%. “In Britain, on the other hand, the effects of Brexit are slowly being felt,” said Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of VDMA. Exports there fell by 31% in Q1, taking the UK from fourth to eighth place among buyers of German machinery. Exports to China, which


accounted for 14.7% of world plastics machinery trade last year, have fallen for the past three years and were 1.7% down again in Q1 2017. However, VDMA expects growth to return in 2017 on the back of the country’s expan- sionary economic policy. ❙ www.vdma.org


…but US shipments see third quarterly decline


The US Plastics Industry Association’s Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) reported that North American shipments of plastics machinery saw a third succes- sive quarter of year-on-year decline in Q1 2017, driven by soft demand for injection


moulding machines. The total of $305.3m was 7.5% down on Q1 2016 and 14.4% down on Q4 2016.


Injection moulding machinery shipment


values saw a sharp 14.5% fall in Q1, while blow moulding machines and single-screw


US Quarterly Primary Plastics Machinery Shipments, 2007-2017


400000 350000 300000 250000 200000 150000 100000 50000


Source: Plastics Industry Association 6 INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2017


extruders were up by 90.4% and 59.1% . And shipments of twin screw extruders were up by 8.3%. Auxiliary equipment was 11.3% up and also up on the seasonally strong total from Q4 2016. Overall, performance was slightly weaker than the US industrial machinery sector overall. Bill Wood of Mountaintop Economics &


Research, who carried out the research, said the trend in shipments data plateaued in mid-2016, before turning down. He said positive growth this year remains unlikely, “but the economic fundamentals in the US should continue to grind gradually higher and global demand is also expected to improve this year”. The CES report also surveys plastics machinery suppliers; 87% expect market conditions to either remain steady or get better during the next year, slightly down from 91% in Q4 2016. ❙ www.plasticsindustry.org


www.injectionworld.com


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