Contact: Paula Weis
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI TRADE REPORT SHOWS $14-BILLION TRADE DEFICIT IN 2002 FOR CONTAINED PLASTICS PRODUCTS

WASHINGTON (September 2, 2003) - The U.S. plastics industry amassed a $14-billion trade deficit in contained plastics products in 2002, with more than half the total shortfall attributable to China, according to a new report from The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI).

The report, "U.S. Plastics Industry Trade Through 2002: Global Business Trends, Partners and Hot Products," is compiled annually for SPI by Probe Economics, Inc. and provides details such as export, import and trade balance figures as well as insight into the forces behind the numbers. The study is the only one of its kind, taking into account data that is not included in government trade reports.

Unique to the SPI report is data collected on the import and export of plastics that are contained in other products, such as automobiles, appliances, medical devices, computers and phones. Government data on the plastics industry takes into account only per se plastics, or those that are included in the plastics chapter of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The schedule includes some plastics products, but does not take into account plastics that are incorporated into other goods, such as automobiles and televisions.

According to the new SPI report, U.S. imports of both contained and per se plastics products grew 43.6 percent between 1997 and 2002, while exports in both categories grew only 10.7 percent in the same time period.

Data from the report also indicates that the plastics industry's per se trade surplus (not including contained plastics products) that existed through the 1990s reversed after 2000, with net exports falling 23.3 percent in 2002.

Among other findings in the publication:

• The primary reasons for the U.S. deterioration in plastics products trade were the high dollar, high natural gas costs in the United States and the movement of manufacturing activity to Asia - especially China.
• While the entire industry (raw material, plastics products per se, equipment and mold combined) had a trade surplus of $4.7 billion in 2002, resin was the only sector that had a surplus on its own, at $7.2 billion
.
• The largest category of contained plastics products imports was "autos, trucks and parts" with $5.6 billion in 2002. Imports of plastics products contained in the "electronic and related" category ranked second with $5.3 billion.
• Mold exports declined 14 percent and equipment exports were down 12.5 percent in 2002. Total plastics exports rose 0.4 in the same year, but imports rose 6.9 percent.
• All positive trade balance improvements can be credited to trade with Mexico. Mexico is the only trading partner in the top six countries with which the United States has a trade surplus in all plastics sectors - equipment, molds, resin and products. Without the plastics product surplus trade with Mexico, the trade deficit for per se plastics products would have been $4.6 billion, rather than the current $1.4 billion.
• Canada receives 26.4 percent of U.S. plastics industry exports and 34.2 percent of U.S. imports come from Canada. Nearly half the imports of builders' ware, such as doors, windows and blinds, come from Canada. Another 36.9 percent are imported from China.
• Fifteen of the top 25 export categories for plastics per se exports to the world are resin.
• U.S. exports of molds to China grew nearly 40 percent per year in the last five years, while imports of molds from China grew 19 percent per year during the same time period.
• The highest growth category for U.S. exports to the world is plastics scrap, growing at 64 percent annually during the last five years.
• PVC wallpaper and barrels and screws were the top import categories ranked by annual growth rate. Wall covering imports grew at annual rates of 120 to 178 percent. Barrel and screw imports grew at a rate of 99 percent per year since 1997.

"U.S. Plastics Industry Trade Through 2002: Global Business Trends, Partners and Hot Products" can be purchased online at www.plasticsdatasource.org, or by calling (800) 541-0736. The cost of the written report only (Reference No. AB149) is $390 for members, $780 for non-members. The written report, plus a CD Rom containing five or more years of trade data and detail not available in the written report (Reference No. AB150) is available at a cost of $690 for members, $1,380 for non-members.

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 1,300 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.5 million workers and provides more than $320 billion in annual shipments. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

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