2018 by the numbers

We have completed another editorial calendar year of rankings and lists, Hurrah! All that's left to do now is bundle them up for our end of the year issue called, Market Data Book. This is the edition where we display the top 100 in each ranking along with any corrections or updated notes gathered since the original publication date. That issue comes out December 24th with 2,213 companies listed.

How does that break down?

• 230 associations.

• 125 blow molders with 709 plants.

• 211 compounders

• 172 film and sheet extruders with 757 plants,

• 595 injection molders with 1,551 plants.

• 135 mold makers with 223 plants.

• 204 pipe, profile and tubing extruders with 601 plants.

• 196 recyclers and brokers.

• 118 rotational molders with 209 plants.

• 227 thermoformers with 508 plants.

Presented below are some basic statistics from the processor rankings this year. Let's see how they stack up.

In average sales per company, the biggest percentage gain went to pipe, profile and tubing extruders at nearly 13 percent.

This can be mostly attributed to consolidation. The footnotes reported 16 acquisitions out of the 204 firms. Injection molders and film and sheet manufacturers were also very active in mergers and acquisitions.

The number of firms in each ranking was fairly stable, which allows the dollar gains chart below to reflect market growth.

Total sales ranked for North American processors was $126.7 billion for the 2017 fiscal year. That's up 3.5 percent or $4.3 billion dollars from the $122.4 billion reported for 2016.

We reached out to more than 3,800 plastic related companies in 2018 and published data on 1,441 processors. Of those, 7.5 percent made the list in more than one process. We also published 855 directory listings.

From our press coverage alone in 2018, we added 135 North American processors. That means these firms were fresh news from companies we had not yet written about, adding to our growing database.

Over the years, we have tracked nearly 6,000 companies. Check out our home page www.plasticsnews.com, for the latest news year-round.

If your firm is not listed, please let us know at www.plasticsnews.com/ranking_survey.

You can also download the survey forms direct from www.plasticsnews.com/section/ranking-surveys.

What's coming up in 2019? Thanks for asking. 2019 marks the 30th anniversary for Plastics News and I've got my hands on all the data, from all the rankings. I'm looking forward to some long term trend analysis and some interesting histories on companies, then and now.

We are also interested in what you have to say on tariffs and taxes. Throughout 2019 we are keeping a place open online to gather your opinions. Visit www.plasticsnews.com/tt and let us know how your company is being affected.

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The data behind the rankings and lists can purchased in MS Excel format, here or here or visit our data store directly at www.plasticsnews.com/data

Our online Market Data Book is updated throughout the year and can be purchased at www.plasticsnews.com/marketdatabook