Here is a closer look at the numbers behind the Plastics News ranking of the Top 100 North American injection molders in this week's issue.
There are 103 firms in the top 100 this year, thanks to several ties at No. 99. Looking at the same firms from last year, North American injection molding sales are up 1.3 percent at $28.98 billion.
We republish the rankings in our end of the year Market Data Book issue and allow for edits and additions. This means that the top firms from the 2016 fiscal year end ranking now total $29.01 billion, which makes it appear as though sales have gone down, just over half a percent, but that's a trick of the numbers. In fact, the average sales per firm is $281.4, which is up 0.8 percent over last year.
For each firm that went down another went up, Our research did not find any lasting market trend theories. Some automotive firms faired very well, while others did not. Ditto for packaging. Even resin pricing pass-through seemed to have been hit or miss.
One thing I could confirm, for those firms reporting growth at the top 100, the average increase was 8 percent.
The company footnotes in this week's chart are split 50/50 between acquisitions and news relating to announcing IPOs or delisting. It seems like 2017 was a modest year. However, 2018 is shaping up to be a much bigger news cycle. We've already reported on many acquisitions and new facilities. I've been very busy making notes towards next year's chart. So keep your eye on our injection molding news section online at www.plasticsnews.com/topics/44/injection-molding.
The biggest Top 100 movers this year were:
IPL Inc. of St. Damien, Quebec, moved up 23 spaces to rank at No. 21.
Proto Labs Inc. of Maple Plain, Minn., moved up seven spaces to rank at No. 65.
Quantum Plastics LLC of Elgin, Ill., moved up seven spaces to rank at No. 69.
GW Plastics Inc. of Bethel, Vt., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 57.
Leon Automotive Inc. of Holland, Mich., moved up five spaces to rank at No. 44.
Balda C. Brewer Inc. of Ontario, Calif., moved up five spaces to rank at No. 84.
Want more information? Visit our top 100 ranking online at http://www.plasticsnews.com/rankings/injection-molders. And watch next week's issue for the rest of this year's injection molders' ranking.
If you work for a company that is missing from the ranking, we would like to include you next time. Just send a note to Hollee Keller at [email protected] or mail your information to Plastics News, P.O. Box 790, Tallmadge, Ohio 44278.
