Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Viewpoint
February 22, 2021 08:53 AM

Thermoformers: Would you believe a 12 percent gain?

Hollee Keller
Editorial Research Coordinator
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Rich Williams

    This week's issue has our updated ranking of North American thermoformers, for the 2020 fiscal year. We were able to gather data for 217 companies totaling $13.6 billion in related sales.

    Broken down by the two major thermoforming categories, 85 percent, or $11.6 billion, was generated from packaging. The remaining $2 billion, or 15 percent, was from industrial thermoforming.

    Did thermoformers fair well in 2020? In a way, yes, and in a way, no. That's one of my favorite answers because it's all in the details.

    Let's look at last March and April, when many firms had to navigate statewide shutdowns. Once the plastics industry was deemed an essential business, owners needed to follow guidelines to keep their employees and customers safe. Financially, thermoformers took a hit in the first and second quarters. For those firms in our ranking with an early or midyear fiscal year end, the impact on sales was apparent.

    Another hit, especially for large-volume commodity items such as food packaging including cups and lids, was the lower cost of virgin polypropylene and PET. Packaging makers passed through those 11 percent and 13 percent declines, respectively.

    Looking at the top 25 firms, we see the average sales per company dropped 5 percent compared with 2019. But the average sales per company has still increased nearly 12 percent in the last five years.

    Gainers and rapid responders

    Only two companies in our top 10 had gains. One was Anchor Packaging LLC of St. Louis, which bought Panoramic Inc. in July 2020. The other was Kruger Brown Holdings LLC of Portage, Wis., which made headlines last year when it introduced a line of emergency and disaster relief beds.

    While loads of companies across the country quickly began making personal protective equipment, including face shields, a large percentage of this production was donated to help communities fight the pandemic. That inspired our very popular editorial cartoon, "Save the People."

    This year we were able to add three companies to our list. Welcome to the ranking:

    • Lacerta Group Inc., a custom specialty packaging maker in Mansfield, Mass.

    • Elmes Packaging Inc., a custom thermoformer in Mississauga, Ontario.

    • rPlanet Earth LLC, an integrated PET recycler and packaging company in Vernon, Calif.

    Our biggest movers were:

    • Premier Plastics Inc. of Salt Lake City, which moved up 21 spaces to rank at No. 79.

    • Pride Polymers LLC of Yakima, Wash., moved up 20 spaces to rank at No. 154.

    • Munot Plastics Inc. of Erie, Pa., moved up 17 spaces to rank at No. 143.

    • Formex Manufacturing Inc. of Lawrenceville, Ga., moved up 12 spaces to rank at No. 124.

    • Formco Plastics Inc. of Bensenville, Ill., moved up eight spaces to rank at No. 176.

    • First Choice Packaging Solutions of Fremont, Ohio, moved up seven spaces to rank at No. 70.

    • Integrated Thermoforming Systems Inc. of Aurora, Ill., moved up seven spaces to rank at No. 176.

    • Accuform Polymers Inc. of Warsaw, N.C., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 154.

    • Gregstrom Corp. of Woburn, Mass., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 154.

    • Leaktite Corp. of Leominster, Mass., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 154.

    • Plastik M.P. Inc. of Richmond, Quebec, moved up six spaces to rank at No. 66.

    • Shamrock Plastics Inc. of Peoria, Ill., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 154.

    • Sportech Inc. of Elk River, Minn., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 24.

    • ThermoPro Inc. of Duluth, Ga., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 154.

    The thermoformers rankings — and all our rankings and lists downloads — include full ranking data and address information for plant locations. These can be found in the Plastics News store at www.plasticsnews.com/data.

    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. All our survey forms are available online at www.plasticsnews.com/section/ranking-surveys.

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

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Investigating plastics: Is defending the industry a crime?
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]snews.com

    Most Popular
    1
    Metro Plastics Technologies sold to NY investment firm
    2
    Layoffs underway at Home Products International
    3
    Plastics Pioneers inducts seven members
    4
    Connecticut-based Inline Plastics buys Michigan-based Cam Packaging, opening first Midwest plant
    5
    FRX Polymers going public through reverse takeover
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified