Extrusion falls into two different rankings for Plastics News. This week marks the first — for pipe, profile and tubing — while extruders within film and sheet will be featured in September.
We rank 192 firms with $22.8 billion in combined North American extrusion sales. Pipe makers make up half of our Top 10 with building products and decking firms in the other half.
That's a good guide for the entire ranking, with pipe sales covering 50.4 percent and profile sales 44 percent. $11.5 billion and $10 billion respectively. Tubing comes in at 5.6 percent with $1.3 billion in related sales.
The average sales per company is up 5.8 percent, which is great news for fiscal 2020. Pandemic shutdowns and restrictions meant that while the markets were up, the availability of the work force was down, leaving labor and supplies very much behind demand, struggling even still today.
Were there gains beyond acquisitions? Yes, most material pricing was up however, but many firms increased well beyond that 5-7 percent pass through margin, into the double digit range. Fram Trak Industries Inc., a custom extruder in Middlesex, N.J. had the biggest gain, doubling its sales to $6 million. In fact, our total ranking shows a $4 billion increase over 5 years ago, that's a 21 percent gain.