Contact: Bonnie Merrill Limbach
(202) 974-5210

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI/TTI Release Landmark Report On Plastics Processing

WASHINGTON (June 12, 2001) - The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) has released the most detailed and comprehensive report to date on plastics processing in the United States.

Available on-line as part of the SPI Economic Report (SPIER), the "State by State Guide to Resin and Equipment" is the result of a partnership between the plastics trade association and TownsendTarnell.Com, Inc. (TTI), the largest global provider of market, credit and business intelligence information to the plastics and chemicals industries.

"This report is unique," said Lori Anderson, SPI director of economic and international affairs, "because it marries the government data of SPIER with the independent data gathered through TTI surveys of nearly 13,000 U.S. processors." Quarterly updates will keep the information fresh, she said, providing recent data within a historical perspective.

Basically, Anderson explained, the report details resins consumed, by state; the installed base of equipment (number of working machines by machine type), and the number of facilities in each state by process.

Resins covered are high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate. Types of machinery and facilities are detailed by injection molding, film and sheet, blow molding, profile extrusion, pipe, rotomolding, compounding and other.

"This is extremely valuable information for businesses," Anderson said. "They can use it for market analyses and strategy development, to determine industry trends, to help establish sales targets by region and to compare their own data to determine its accuracy."

Types of information available in the report include:

• Nearly 77 percent of plastics processing machines installed are used in injection molding, and about 60 percent of processors are injection molders.
• California has the most machines installed, followed by Ohio and Michigan. Of the 96,865 injection molding machines in the United States, nearly 10 percent are in California.
• Some 15 million pounds of high-density polyethylene are consumed annually, with Texas leading the states. For polypropylene, Georgia tops the list.
• Ohio leads several categories, including number of profile extrusion facilities and number of compounding facilities.

The report, created for SPI by Probe Economics, Millwood, N.Y., has been incorporated into the searchable, on-line database created for SPIER by SPI and Plastics News, a weekly industry newspaper. Users may purchase one-time, weekly or annual access to the database, which is located on www.plasticsnews.com.

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's 1,500 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw material suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.5 million workers and provides $304 billion in annual shipments. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

Back to Top

More About SPI:   Vision and Mission . Membership . Business Units . Regional Offices . News and Publications . Calendar of Events . Terms and Conditions of Use