Plastics Products Makers Posting Sales, Margin Gains

U.S. plastics product manufacturers, key suppliers to auto and aerospace industries, construction and retailing, recently wrapped up their fifth year in a row of increased sales, according to new data from Sageworks, a financial information company. Profitability has also strengthened as the industry benefits from a growing economy, increasing automation and “reshoring” trends. Preliminary estimates from Sageworks’ analysis of statements filed in 2014 show that privately held companies in the industry, on average, increased sales by about 4 percent, on top of roughly 8 percent growth in each of the previous two years. Plastics product manufacturers in 2011 and 2012 had experienced double-digit growth as manufacturing in general led the U.S. economy out of the recession.