Business Conditions Report forecasts minimal change.
Press Release Summary:
According to the June 2009 PMA Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect little change in business conditions during the next 3 months. Expectations include a slight uptick in general economic activity alongside a slight improvement in incoming orders. Conversely, current average daily shipping levels were said to dip somewhat in June, and metalforming companies with portions of their workforce on short time or layoff increased to 81% in June.
Original Press Release:
Business Conditions Report: June 2009
CLEVELAND, OH-June 15, 2009-According to the June 2009 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect little change in business conditions during the next three months. Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 154 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.
Metalformers anticipate a slight uptick in general economic activity during the next three months. Twenty-one percent of participants predict an improvement in overall economic activity (up from 19% in May), 58% expect that activity will remain unchanged (up from 46% last month) and 21% reported that activity will decline (compared to 35% in May).
Metalforming companies also anticipate a slight improvement in incoming orders during the next three months. Twenty-nine percent predict an increase in orders (up from 25% in May), 46% expect no change (up from 36% the previous month), and 25% of companies forecast a decrease in orders (compared to 39% in May).
However, current average daily shipping levels dipped somewhat in June. Fourteen percent of participants report that shipping levels are above levels of three months ago (compared to 17% in May), 37% report no change (up from 34% in May) and 49% report that shipping levels are below levels of three months ago (the same percentage reported last month).
The number of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff increased to 81% in June, up from 80% in May. This level remains at a substantially higher rate than June of last year, when only 23% of companies reported workers on short time or layoff.
"PMA members are signaling that the metalforming industry is at or the near bottom of this economic cycle," said William E. Gaskin, PMA president. "The data show that most members are not yet experiencing significant up-side growth in current shipments or in their expectations for incoming orders over the next few months, but they no longer view the situation as deteriorating, although current shipments are softer than one would hope at this stage of the cycle. Nearly one-half of our member companies, primarily suppliers to the automotive, heavy truck and commercial construction industries, are still experiencing unstable current shipping levels, but the situation has improved, and once we get past the June/July closings of automobile assembly facilities, there should be positive yet modest growth in shipments."
The monthly Business Conditions Report has been conducted by PMA since 1979. Full report results are available at pma.org/about/stats/BCreport. PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $91-billion metalforming industry of North America-the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other value-added processes. Its nearly 1,100 member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. PMA leads innovative member companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability through advocacy, networking, statistics, the PMA Educational Foundation, METALFORM tradeshows and MetalForming magazine.
