Plastics machinery sales reach US$239 in Q1 2005

About US$239 million worth of plastics machinery and equipment was shipped by US manufacturers and importers during the first quarter (Q1) of 2005, according to a recent report.
This total, which excludes components and auxiliary equipment, marks a 16% increase from the $206 million shipped during Q1 2004, but is an 11% decrease from the $269 million shipped during Q4 2004.
Total shipments of plastics machinery and equipment reached $979 million in 2004.
According to the ‘First Quarter 2005 Report’, published by the Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES), part of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SIP), injection molding machinery was the top seller in Q1 2005. This segment shipped 888 units, making up $203.8 million of the total $239 million shipped.
This was an increase over Q1 2004, when shipments of injection molding machinery topped out at $168.6 million with 846 units. In Q4 2004, 968 injection molding units, worth a total of $210.4 million, were shipped.
In comparison, only 20 units of blow molding machinery were sold in Q1 2005the same as in Q1 2004but at a lower price. Dollar shipments of blow molding products fell from $10.2 million to $14.9 million in Q1 2004, while sales in Q4 2004 were $19.4 billion, almost double those of Q1 2005.
Meanwhile, shipments of extrusion machinery jumped slightly to 196 units from 189 units in Q1 2004, not nearly as many as the 274 products shipped in Q4 2004.
In terms of money, Q1 2005’s shipments of extrusion machinery reached $25.4 million, slightly exceeding the $22.8 million reported in Q1 2004, but significantly less than the $39.6 million shipped in Q4 2004.
Additionally, shipments of auxiliary equipment hit $84 million in Q1 2005, up from $82.4 million in Q1 2004, but down from $85.7 million in Q4 2004. .
Shipments of componentsscrews and barrels for injection molding and extrusion machinesdropped to 4,889 units from 5,003 in Q1 2004, while 4,926 components shipped in Q4 2004.