Globalization: Implications for the US Plastics industry
The U.S. plastics industry, like all other manufacturing industries around the world, confronts the forces of globalization, and it struggles to comprehend this process and adjust its business models accordingly. This is no easy task since globalization is a phenomenon of vast complexity and scope, embracing issues of a cultural, economic, environmental, geopolitical and social nature. It has been unfolding for several centuries, yet recently this process has clearly accelerated. Technological change in transoceanic transportation has increased the volume of international trade in agricultural and manufactured goods whereas technological change in telecommunications has transformed the range of internationally tradable services. Vast amounts of capital move freely around the world in search of high rates of return on investment, and multinational companies with vast economies of scale proliferate. China, India, Eastern European countries, and other developing economies have taken advantage of these transformative developments and emerged as important consumers and producers of plastic materials, machinery, tooling and products on global markets.

Published: March 2007

Report ID: 1004

Price: $1500.00

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Industrial Blow Molding: Changing Industry Structure and Growth Dynamics
PCRS has studied the North American industrial blow molding business periodically over the past decade. In our previous analysis (2001) we determined that following strong growth in the second half of the 1990s, marked by average annual growth of 11% in value terms and 6.5% in volume terms, there was a “growth pause” in 2000. The pace of growth in the regional economy had decelerated, and several critical markets for industrial blow molders had been adversely affected. Automotive industry production had plateaued, the housewares industry had suffered from resin pricing spikes and changes in product retailing, and the toy industry was experiencing stiff foreign competition.

Published: November 2006

Report ID: 1005

Price: $1,950.00

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An Economic Analysis of Plastic Pipe Business
As the North American economy recovers from the adverse economic conditions confronted in 2000-2001 the demand for pipe made from all materials of construction has surged. There is eternal competition between pipe made from "traditional" materials (i.e., cast iron, concrete, copper, ductile iron, carbon and stainless steel) and pipe made from plastics (thermoplastic and thermoset). The ideal is to be able to design and develop pipe in a wide range of diameters that is light-weight yet durable, rigid or flexible, abrasion- and corrosion-resistant, and long-lived. The key as always is to offer the lowest long-term total pipe system cost (pipe units, transportation, installation and maintenance) while at the same time complying with national standards and local building and engineering codes. Recent technological changes in materials and processing methods have enhanced the ability of plastic pipe producers to satisfy these criteria.

Published: June 2006

Report ID: 1006

Price: $1,900.00

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New Growth Dynamics in Compression Molding
Compression molding was one of the original plastics processing methods developed at the dawn of the commercial plastics industry. The objective was to produce light-weight, structurally strong, creatively designed plastic parts that could replace parts made from the traditional engineering materials - metals (steel, aluminum et al.), wood, ceramics and porcelain. As the inherent cost/performance advantages of this process gained acceptance in the marketplace, the resins in the compression molders' repertoire gradually expanded - from the early thermoset resins (phenolic, epoxy, melamine and urea) to unsaturated polyester (the ideal material for glass fiber-reinforced composite parts). With the development of polyethylene and polypropylene in the 1950s, the compression molding process was modified to accommodate these low-cost commodity thermoplastics as well.

Published: November 2005

Report ID: 1007

Price: $1,800.00

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Recent Patterns of Growth and Technological Change in the Bottle Blow Molding Business
On the surface the North American bottle blow molding business has enjoyed buoyant growth over the past few years. The volume of consumption of plastic material has been growing at an average annual rate of 6%, reaching 10.8 billion lbs. by 2004. In the same way the value of output has been growing at an average annual rate of 8.75%, reaching $14.3 billion by 2004. However, a large measure of the growth in value terms is attributable to soaring resin price inflation in 2003 and 2004. The result is what economists would term "immiserizing growth" - that is, nominal growth accompanied by declining profitability as many bottle blow molders have been unable to pass along these relentless raw material cost increases to their customers.

Published: July 2005

Report ID: 1008

Price: $1,800.00

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The Industrial Thermoforming Business: Review and Outlook
In 1995 PCRS researched and published its seminal study of the North American industrial thermoforming business. We updated that analysis in 1998 and again in 2001. We determined from these three analyses that the regional industrial thermoforming business was growing at an average annual rate of 6%. The overall value of this business as of 2000 was $2.3 billion, and it accounted for over 1 billion lbs. of plastic material consumption.

Published: November 2004

Report ID: 1009

Price: $1,700.00

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The Profile Extrusion Business:Review and Outlook
Many sectors of the North American plastics processing business have experienced difficult market conditions over the past few years stemming from the U.S. recession in the first half of 2001, the terrorist attacks in the second half of 2001, and the surge of imports from Asian countries in 2002 and 2003. Yet the companies with custom, proprietary and captive profile extrusion operations have managed to come through this period with sales growth reasonably close to their long-term trend line. This is largely due to the fact that the majority of their output is directed to the building and construction industry which, along with the automotive industry, has benefited from sustained consumer spending. Here in 2004 the rising cost of raw materials is putting pressure on product pricing and profit margins, and the recent rise in mortgage interest rates may serve to dampen demand for new residential construction. However, residential remodeling will probably continue apace. As a result annual sales of profile extruded products, which attained a level of $11.3 billion in 2003, should grow on average by 6% to $15.1 billion by 2008.

Published: May 2004

Report ID: 1010

Price: $1,700.00

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