PMA Business Conditions Report forecasts steady conditions.

Press Release Summary:



According to November 2012 PMA Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect steady business conditions during next 3 months; 45% of 125 sampled metalforming companies anticipate economic activity will remain unchanged. Companies also expect slight uptick in incoming orders over same time period, while average daily shipping levels remained steady. Percentage of companies with workforce on short time or layoff increased to 17%, up from 1% from October and same as 1 year ago.



Original Press Release:



Business Conditions Report: November 2012



CLEVELAND, OH–According to the November 2012 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect steady business conditions during the next three months.  Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 125 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.



The November report shows that 19% of participants anticipate that economic activity will improve during the next three months (up from 15% in October), 45% predict that activity will remain unchanged (down from 55% last month) and 36% report that activity will decline (compared to 30% in October).



Metalforming companies expect a slight uptick in incoming orders during the next three months, with 28% anticipating an increase in orders (up from 24% in October), 39% forecasting no change (compared to 41% last month) and 33% predicting a decrease in orders (down from 35% in October).



Average daily shipping levels continued to remain steady in November.  Twenty-five percent of participants report that shipping levels are above levels of three months ago (up from 22% in October), 37% report that shipping levels are the same as three months ago (compared to 33% in October), and 38% report a decrease in shipping levels (down from 45% in October).



The percentage of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff increased to 17% in November, up from 16% in October.  The November figure is the same as it was one year ago. 



“Metalforming companies clearly anticipate continued softening for the balance of 2012 and are looking ahead to 2013 with very modest expectations for an uptick in business conditions during the first few months of the new year,” said William E. Gaskin, PMA president.  “Results of the presidential election, negative stock market performance, significant concern over how Congress will address income taxes on Sub-S and LLC pass-through companies, and low expectations for how Congress will address the fiscal cliff are major concerns.  There also is a growing concern for resurgent regulatory enforcement by EPA, OSHA and other federal regulatory agencies.”



The monthly Business Conditions Report has been conducted by PMA since 1979.  Full report results are available at www.pma.org/public/business_reports/pdf/BCREP.pdf.  PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $113-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 900 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, FABTECH and METALFORM tradeshows, MetalForming magazine and Fabricating Product News.

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