Mold Building Trends for the 1st Quarter of 2012
The following research and information was published by Mountaintop Economics & Research Inc. and written by Bill Wood, Plastics Market Economist at Mountaintop Economics & Research Inc which was released on March 7, 2012.
Bill Wood writes:
"The recent uptrend in overall business levels for North American moldmakers was not only extended in February, it accelerated. The Mold Business Index (MBI) for February is 56.6 which is a 2.7 point increase from the January value of 53.9 and a 3.3 point increase from the February 2011 value of 53.3.
Strong gains were reported in all categories of business activity. The good news was tempered only by reports of longer Supplier Delivery Times and higher Material prices. New orders registered another solid gain in February as did both Production and Employment levels. For the third consecutive month, there was an increase reported in Mold Prices. The future expectations remain quite optimistic.
The data measuring the recovery in the overall US economy are increasingly solid and inflation-adjusted GDP is expanding at an annual rate of 2.5%. This pace is still a bit below the long-term potential for the US, but it is strong enough to encourage new hiring and to lower the closely watched unemployment rate. We expect that the unemployment rate will be below 8% by the end of 2012.
The relentless rise in the prices of gasoline currently poses the most immediate threat to the recovery. But if the conflict with Iran doesn't escalate, then fuel prices should stabilize and the US economy will continue to expand at a moderate rate this year. Then if we can get some competent policymaking after the November elections, the outlook for the US economy will strengthen substantially as we progress through the middle of this decade.
Demand for new molds expanded in February. The new orders component and employment component indicate work levels are rising and moldmakers still need new employees to meet demand.
Mold prices are very near an all-time high and prices paid for materials and components also continue to rise. Supplier delivery times are longer. There was a small rise in offshore orders for new molds.
By a very wide margin, the most cited problem confronting North American moldmakers in recent weeks continues to be the shortage of skilled labor. Other problems receiving multiple mentions are competition from China, pressure from customers for longer payment terms, shorter lead times, lower mold prices, uncertainty about future business levels, US economy and the prices and lead times for steel, components, and other materials.
This mold index is based on a monthly survey of North American mold makers. Mountain Economics & Research Inc conducts the survey and then calculates a diffusion index based on 50. A value above 50 for the MBI indicates that business activity expanded in the previous month, while a value below 50 means that business levels declined."
About Crescent Industries:
Crescent Industries has been in business for over 60 years. Below is a list of our capabilities-
Design & Development - We provide several engineering services for your injection molded project such as product design, mold design, material selection and prototyping.
Mold Building - We build SPI Class 101-105 molds ranging from a single cavity mold through multi-cavity molds in a variety of configurations. We also offer mold maintenance, mold repair, and mold revision services.
Injection Molding - Crescent performs a variety of plastic injection molding processes including over molding, insert molding, family molding and clean room molding utilizing scientific injection molding principles.
Xyloy (TM) Injection Moldable Metal Alloys - Xyloy (TM) injection moldable metal alloys are molded on conventional plastic injection molding machines to produce metal components in low and high volumes.
Value Added Services - Crescent offers several value added services to complete your injection molded project, performing simple or complex operations depending on our customer's specifications including clean room assembly and packaging.
Tool Transfer - We utilize a documented tool transfer procedure to ensure timely and seamless transition of our customer's tools.
Swiss Screw Machining - We manufacture precision Swiss screw machined components to be insert molded or as finished product.
Logistics - Crescent offers a variety of storage/warehousing and shipping options to meet our customer's inventory management requirements.
For more information about Crescent Industries, Inc. please see our website www.crescentind.com, call 1-800-411-3844 or email sales@crescentind.com.
