Canadian moldmakers less optimistic than in U.S.: surveys

Canadian moldmakers appear less optimistic about business conditions at present and in the short term than do their counterparts in the U.S. – at least according to some recent survey results.

A majority (57%) of American moldmakers describe their business as either “fair” or “good”, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA).

This compares with slightly more than 25% of Canadian moldmakers that described their business as either “fair” or “good”, according to a survey conducted by Canadian Plastics magazine.

According to the results of the Canadian Plastics survey, slightly more than 10% of respondents described business conditions as “good”, almost 15.8% described them as “fair”, almost 31.6% called conditions “poor”, and 42.1% described conditions as “bad”. None of the respondents described their business as “excellent”.

According to the AMBA’s summer business forecast survey, meanwhile, 5% of respondents said their business was “excellent”, 23% described current conditions as “good”, 34% described them as “fair”, and 26% called them “poor.” 

The numbers in the Canadian Plastics survey took a slightly more positive turn on the question of business expectations for the next 12 months. While none expected “excellent” business, 21.1% predicted “good” conditions, 36.8% predicted “poor” conditions…and only 5.3% predicted a “bad” forecast.

Projections for business over the next three months among respondents to the AMBA survey fall into the following categories: 28% expect business to increase moderately, 51% expect business to remain the same, and 4% expect business to increase substantially. On the negative side, 13% expect business to decrease moderately, and 4% expect a substantial decrease.

The Canadian Plastics survey, consisting of 33 questions, was emailed in July 2009 to 192 moldmakers across Canada in the Canadian Plastics database, as well as to members of the Canadian Association of Moldmakers (CAMM). Twenty completed surveys were submitted in return. For a more detailed look at the Canadian Plastics moldmaking survey, see the September/October 2009 issue of Canadian Plastics, also available on the home page, www.canplastics.com.

The AMBA survey received 76 respondents, according to AMBA. For more on the AMBA survey, click on this link.