In 2016, the plastic machinery industry in North America and Europe presented their own different scenes, the German plastic machinery industry recorded the best growth, an increase of nearly 4%, while the United States and Italy's plastic machinery industry performance is average.

2016 North American plastic machinery industry basically flat

According to the American Plastics Industry Association report, the sales of plastic machinery in North America in 2016 were basically flat with 2015, but the fourth quarter showed a sequential decline. The Washington-based trade group said that after the Great depression of 2008 to 2009, the injection molding machinery industry began to return to growth in 2010. It was the first quarter-on-quarter decline.

Total sales in the fourth quarter of 2016 were $361.7 million, down 7.4% from the fourth quarter of 2015, which the report said was a significant decline. For the full year, sales of major injection molding equipment were up 1.2% in 2016 from 2015.

"Plastic News" has reported that the injection molding machine industry leaders have said that the total sales of injection molding machines in the United States in 2015 exceeded 4,000 units, and will reach about 4,100 units in 2016. This time the association did not report the specific number of sales.

Plastics economist Bill Wood said," After six consecutive years of balanced growth, sales of plastic equipment reached a peak in 2016, and the number of sales for the full year extended the growth to exactly seven years. Quarterly sales in the first half of 2017 are difficult to forecast, but the underlying economic conditions will gradually improve. "

Germany continues to hold up well

According to a report by the German trade group VDMA, German plastic and rubber machinery manufacturers enjoyed decent growth in 2016, continuing the "... The good momentum of the past few years ". .

Ulrich Reifenhä, President of VDMA Plastic Rubber Machinery Association; user said "quot; "The 4 percent increase was higher than the 2 percent increase originally expected. " The association also pointed to the success of the K show in October last year, saying that it is more optimistic about the future of the industry.

Exports of German rubber and plastic machinery manufacturers to the United States rose 7.6 percent to $835.4 million in 2016, widening the lead of the United States over second-ranked China. Exports to China continued to decline, falling 3.6 percent to $678.9 million. The association also noted that production at its members' factories in China had increased substantially, and that China remained "the most important country in the world". "An important sales market." .

Mexico ranked third, buying US $275.2 million of German plastic and rubber machinery in 2016, an increase of 51.9 percent.

Italy reverts to ". Pre-crisis ". Level

Eight years ago, the global financial crisis put Italy's Chinese processing industry into recession, by 2016, the Italian plastic and rubber machinery market finally showed some vitality.

Assocomaplast, an Italian trade association, predicts that the output value of plastic and rubber processing machinery produced by Italian companies will increase by 1.9% in 2016 to $4.57 billion.

Official foreign trade data show that in 2016, Italy's machinery imports increased by 12.2 percent to $918.8 million, which is basically back to the "... Pre-crisis levels ". . "Said Alessandro Grassi, president of the

association. We are seeing levels that have not been seen before, proof that after years of stagnation, the Italian-Chinese market is finally a bit alive." "

Exports of Italian rubber and plastic machinery manufacturers increased by 1.7% to $3.2 billion in 2016.

Sales to key European Union countries were also up, but exports to the US market fell 11.5 percent to just $248.6 million. But exports to Mexico, on the other hand, rose the most, reaching 70 percent and totaling $186.9 million.

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