PLASTICS releases Global Trends report at K 2022

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) released its annual Global Trends report at the K Show in Düsseldorf, Germany. 

“Inflation was a big factor in the increases in the dollar value of exports and imports of plastics trade,” said Perc Pineda, chief economist at PLASTICS. “While this year’s merchandise trade outlook could miss the forecast, as the global economic growth slowed, the world is still the market for the plastics industry.” 

“The fact that our Global Trends report anticipates positive results for our industry, despite a widened trade deficit, speaks to the importance of plastics to the world we live in,” said Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of PLASTICS. 

Among the highlights in the report: 

• The U.S. plastics industry’s overall trade deficit grew to $10.1 billion in 2021 from $5.4 billion just a year earlier. For several years prior, the plastics industry enjoyed a trade surplus. The U.S. enjoyed a $19.6 billion surplus in resin. 
• The U.S. plastics industry had an $18.2 billion trade deficit with China, its third-largest export market at $6.2 billion for 2021. This was offset in part by a $2.6 billion resin trade surplus with China, the world’s largest resin buyer.
• Mexico and Canada remained the U.S. plastics industry’s largest export markets. In 2021, the industry exported $18 billion to Mexico and $15 billion to Canada, maintaining a $10.8 billion trade surplus with Mexico. 
• In the first half of 2022, U.S. plastics industry exports increased 16.9 percent and imports rose 17 percent compared to the first half of 2021.  

Plastics machinery exports increased 19.7 percent from 2020 to 2021, and imports increased 15.5 percent, according to the report. 

Other machinery trends noted in the report: 

• The U.S. plastics machinery industry registered a $2.2 billion trade deficit in 2021, an increase from $2 billion in 2020.  
• The industry had its largest surplus with Mexico at $213 million, and its largest deficit with Germany at $708 million.  
• Exports of machinery were 28.6 percent of domestic shipments, and imports were 79.6 percent. 
• Apparent consumption of plastics machinery rose 14.4 percent, from $5.8 billion in 2020 to $6.6 billion in 2021. Domestic shipments rose 15 percent.  
• U.S. machinery producers held a 47.3 percent market share (percent of apparent consumption) in 2021, down from 47.8 percent in 2020. 

The Global Trends report and its dataset provide a comprehensive account of U.S. plastics exports and imports worldwide in each of the four categories of the plastics industry: resin, products, machinery and molds. The report also includes analysis outlining the movement of resins and plastics embedded in goods that the U.S. both exports and imports.  

An executive summary and the full report are available at www.plasticsindustry.org/globaltrends.