Most years when Plastics News assembles its list of top injection molders in North America, the top 10 are fairly easy to predict: auto suppliers and a packaging company or two.
But the challenges of 2020 are continuing to disrupt what we thought we knew about the industry.
As Hollee Keller notes in her blog about this year's top molders, auto production halts from COVID-19 and a microchip shortage are causing a ripple effect for suppliers.
"You may be thinking ... automotive is just one end market, and many others actually saw growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. But many of the largest companies in our ranking are focused almost 100 percent on automotive customers, and those companies took a hit when assembly plants shut down starting in March 2020," Hollee writes.
IAC, coming in at No. 3 for 2020, saw sales drop an estimated 18.4 percent. Plastic Omnium Auto Exteriors LLC in Troy, Mich., was down an estimated 20 percent, based on parent Cie. Plastic Omnium SA's annual report.
On the flip side, medical and packaging companies saw a boost in 2020. Read her full blog for more, and stay tuned for next week's print issue when we list the companies beyond the top 100.