JR Jones Inc. of Wyomissing has completed the newest version of Thermoplastic Concentrates in North America, its most recent update of a major, multiclient study.
The study includes data on 146 color and additive concentrates makers. That's only one less than the number that was included in the 2008 version, JR Jones owner John Jones said in an interview.
In addition, he conducted interviews with more than 100 more firms to gather data, conclusions and forecasts for the study.
“The effects of the economic difficulties of the past several years cannot be ignored, and their effect on the concentrate industry have been heavy,” Jones wrote in the introduction. “Through it all, however, the plastics industry has been recovering and concentrate manufacturers have, for the most part, been weathering the storm.”
As proof of the market's consistency, Jones points out that 19 companies from the 2008 study are not in the new version — but they've been replaced by 18 other firms that have sprung up since then. Of the 19 that vanished, nine merged with other firms, six exited the concentrates market, three went out of business and one reorganized.
The study is split into separate sections for color, black, white and additive concentrates, with data on supply and demand, end markets and forecasts.
In 2010, the North American concentrates market consumed about 1.5 billion pounds of resin. The top 10 companies in the study accounted for about 60 percent of total capacity in the region.
“It should still be noted that in spite of the declines in usage, the use of concentrates is one of the great success stories of the plastics industry,” Jones wrote.