Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
November 01, 2016 02:00 AM

Milacron: North American processors stringing out investment plans

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Caroline Seidel
    Milacron Holdings Corp.'s production of Klear Cans at its K 2016 booth.

    Milacron Holdings Corp. reported solid growth in orders for the third quarter, sales gains in hot runners and growing machinery business in Europe, India and China. But equipment customers in the company's biggest market, North America, are stringing out investment decisions, CEO Tom Goeke said in a Nov. 1 conference call.

    Overall, Milacron said “the sluggish macroeconomic conditions that have limited growth during the first nine months of 2016 will continue to impact the fourth quarter.”

    Goeke also said Milacron spent $2.5 million to $3 million for its exhibit at K 2016.

    Companywide, Milacron reported third quarter sales of $292.2 million, down 0.2 percent, and when measured on a constant currency basis, up 0.8 percent, over the year-ago third quarter.

    New orders in the third quarter increased to $284.3 million, up 3.3 percent (4.3 percent in constant currency) — about the same rate of growth for the first nine months.

    Goeke said that solid order environment is giving officials “better visibility” for the first half of 2017. Also, the company has 25 percent more backlog in orders scheduled to ship in 2017 than at this point a year ago.

    “It's a great backlog to have,” he said.

    But it's taking more time to convert orders into sales, Goeke told financial analysts. Those longer-term projects, and resulting variability in delivery dates, has caused some “lumpiness” when comparing results from quarter to quarter, he told analysts.

    “Our customers are generally cautious. I don't see them laying out a lot of capital or cash without a certain level of certainty. I think we see it stable, which is in my view very positive,” Goeke said.

    “It's really the short-cycle business that's made an impact,” he said.

    Goeke said Milacron did see a bump in business at K 2016, the eight-day technology extravaganza that concluded in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Oct. 26. But he said that was mainly from orders made from before the show.

    “On the other hand, at the K show, I was really surprised at the attendance,” he said. “The attendance from India was incredible; Asia, China, very high. … There was an awful lot of activity and a lot of decision-maker discussion. So it isn't that people aren't active in the projects that they had. It's really just pulling the trigger.”

    Chief Financial Officer Bruce Chalmers said Milacron continues to make investments in its aftermarket and systems operations, as well as investing to ramp up production at its facilities in the Czech Republic.

    Milacron is moving assembly of its Ferromatik Milacron injection molding machines from Malterdingen, Germany, to the Czech Republic, and the cost savings from that action will help the company's financial performance in 2017, Chalmers said.

    He said Milacron finalized an agreement with the works council, representing unionized workers at Malterdingen, on Sept. 30.

    Sales declined by 1.2 percent in the third quarter for the Advanced Plastic Processing Technologies group, which covers machinery. North America was down vs. the year-ago period. But the company reported solid growth in Europe, India and China — as those regions saw strong end-market performance in consumer goods, construction, electronics and custom molders. North America had lower sales volume in packaging and automotive.

    Applications are gaining momentum for coinjection molded single-serve coffee pods, the company reported.

    In the Melt Delivery and Control Systems business, hot runner and related component sales grew 3.7 percent in the third quarter, but that was partially offset by declines in mold bases. Robust hot runner growth in packaging, consumer goods and medical are partially offset by declines in automotive and electronics.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Patio doors get a boost with new production, designs
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Plan to extend chemical recycling in Illinois hits roadblock
    2
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    3
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    4
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    5
    Trinseo: Equipment failure blamed for latex emulsion leak
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified