This packaging wave is over for thermoforming

This week we present our first ranking looking at the 2023 results for North American plastic processors. The trend line is clear: Packaging thermoforming was heading into a trough while industrial thermoforming was bouncing back.

We've ranked 206 thermoformers in our annual ranking, with related sales of $16.8 billion. That is down 4.2 percent from the previous year.

The average sales per company is $81.7 million. Looking closer, though, the spread is extreme, maybe even redonkulous. Yup, I used that word on purpose. Our top company, Pactiv Evergreen Inc., comes in at $3.6 billion and our smallest, Modpaksol, is $0.001 million.

It may be more informative to look at these breakouts in the aggregate. Comparing year over year, we see a 4 percent decline in our packaging totals vs. a 1.7 percent gain in industrial.

Packaging represents items such as food containers and clamshells, while industrial includes housings and outdoor goods. The two do not adhere to the same market conditions nor pricing formulas, which is why we split them apart.

From my research, the biggest factors for the decline in packaging were resin cost pass-through and slowing demand. The major materials for this ranking were all down double digits in their pricing, with polypropylene showing the largest drop at 32.9 percent. However, not all nonpackaging end markets were up. Recreational vehicles and marine products, for example, took a big hit.

Many processors handle a mix of products, so it's notable that 48 percent of our companies had no reportable year-over-year change.

In total, thermoforming itself makes up about 11 percent of the overall sales we track for all six of our processor rankings, with $156.3 billion in combined annual sales.

In other news, Carlisle Cos. Inc. is selling its Carlisle Interconnect Technologies operations, which include our No. 63 ranked firm, San Diego-based Providien Thermoforming, a maker of trays, inserts and housings. Carlisle's CIT division is now classified as a discontinued operation, according to its third-quarter financial report.

And happy 60th anniversary to Cascades Inc. of Kingsey Falls, Quebec, our No. 28 ranked firm.

For our biggest movers, 12 out of 15 were industrial thermoformers.

Federal Foam Technologies Inc. of New Richmond, Wis., moved up 96 spaces to rank at No. 56.

Waveform Plastics Technologies Ltd. of Burk's Falls, Ontario, moved up 61 spaces to rank in a tie for No.150.

Good Natured Products Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, moved up 56 spaces to rank at No. 41.

Patrick Industries Inc. of Elkhart, Ind., moved up 44 spaces to rank at No. 24.

Munot Plastics Inc. of Erie, Pa., moved up 41 spaces to rank in a tie for No. 104.

Welch Fluorocarbon Inc. of Dover, N.H., moved up 41 spaces to rank in a tie for No. 104.

House of Plastics Unlimited Inc. of Orlando, Fla., moved up 27 spaces to rank in a tie for No. 150.

LeTourneau Plastics Inc. of Oconto, Wis., moved up 21 spaces to rank at No. 76.

Redline Plastics LLC of Manitowoc, Wis., moved up 19 spaces to rank at No. 175.

Re-Plast Products Inc. of Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, Quebec, moved up 12 spaces to rank in a tie for No. 150.

Bo-Mer Plastics LLC of Auburn, N.Y., moved up 11 spaces to rank at No. 79.

Wurm's Woodworking Co. of New Washington, Ohio, moved up 11 spaces to rank at No. 90.

ThermoPro Inc. of Duluth, Ga., moved up 11 spaces to rank in a tie for No. 150.

Midland Plastics Inc. of New Berlin, Wis., moved up nine spaces to rank at No. 161.

PolyFlex Products Inc. of Farmington Hills, Mich., moved up eight spaces to rank at No. 102.

Missing from the ranking? Contact Hollee Keller at [email protected] Find all our rankings and lists online at www.plasticsnews.com/businessdata.

Keller is editorial research coordinator for Plastics News and author of the All Things Data blog. Follow her on Linkedin.