PMA releases February 2009 Business Conditions Report.
Press Release Summary:
According to the February 2009 report, 9% of participants predict improved business within 3 months, while overall, they anticipate decreased incoming orders. Daily shipping levels remained steady in February, but companies with portion of workforce on short time or layoff increased, for the 7th consecutive month, to 75%. William E. Gaskin, PMA president, said that every sector of manufacturing, except for defense, is experiencing substantial cutbacks in production.
Original Press Release:
Business Conditions Report: February 2009
CLEVELAND, OH - February 13, 2009 - According to the February 2009 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect tough times to continue during the next three months. Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 147 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.
Metalformers anticipate a slight decline in general economic activity during the next three months. Only nine percent of participants predict an improvement in business (down from 14% in January), 48% expect that activity will remain unchanged (up from 41% last month) and 43% reported that activity will decline (compared to 45% in January).
Metalforming companies also anticipate that incoming orders will decrease during the next three months. Only 16% of companies forecast an increase in orders (down from 19% in January), 34% expect no change (compared to 32% the previous month) and 50% predict a decrease in orders (up from 49% in January).
Current average daily shipping levels remained steady in February. Seventy-nine percent of participants report that shipping levels are below levels of three months ago (the same percentage reported in January), 14% report no change (compared to 17% in January) and seven percent report that shipping levels are above levels of three months ago (up from four percent last month).
The number of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff increased for the seventh consecutive month. Seventy-five percent of companies reported workers on short time or layoff in February, compared to 64% in January and at a substantially higher rate than February 2008, when only 16% of companies reported workers on short time or layoff.
"As producers of components and assemblies for a wide range of commercial, industrial and consumer goods, metalforming companies are dependent on their customers to drive orders and shipments," said William E. Gaskin, PMA president. "Virtually every sector of our manufacturing base, with the possible exception of defense industries, is experiencing substantial cutbacks in production, impacting the outlook for the metalforming industry into the spring. PMA member companies are directly hurt by the credit crisis in obtaining resources to survive this prolonged economic slump, and indirectly as consumer spending and the housing collapse impact purchases of autos, appliances and other products. It is an amazing tribute to the resiliency of small and middle-market companies that they have been able to reduce costs and hunker down to survive this difficult period."
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 1,200 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.
