Contact: Paula Weis
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI COMMITTEE ON EQUIPMENT STATISTICS RELEASES FIRST QUARTER 2005 REPORT ON PLASTICS MACHINERY SHIPMENTS

WASHINGTON (May 20, 2005) - The Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) has released its "First Quarter 2005 Report."

The new publication provides an overview of plastics equipment shipments from Second Quarter 2003 through First Quarter 2005. The CES report also includes an analysis of U.S. economic trends affecting plastics machinery markets, looking at such factors as capital spending on industrial equipment, U.S. industrial production, the capacity and utilization rate of the plastics industry, the crude oil and natural gas market, the producer price index and the purchasing manager's index.

Compiled by VERIS Consulting, LLC, using data supplied by CES participating companies, the report was created to provide a beneficial and important tool for examining and understanding the vital U.S. plastics machinery and equipment industry.

Among the data included in the report:

• Manufacturers and importers of primary plastics machinery and equipment in the United States shipped a total of $239 million worth of product (excluding components and auxiliary equipment) in the first quarter of 2005.
• First quarter 2005 shipments of primary plastics machinery were 16 percent higher than first quarter 2004 shipments, but 11 percent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2004.
• Units of injection molding equipment shipped in the first quarter of 2005 were up five percent when compared to the first quarter of 2004, while shipment dollars were up 21 percent over the same timeframe.
• Extrusion machinery units shipped in the first quarter of 2005 were up 4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2004, while new auxiliary equipment bookings rose two percent during the same timeframe.
• The plastics components sector saw a decline in shipments of two percent in the first quarter of 2005, when compared to the first quarter of 2004.
• Shipments of blow molding equipment in the first quarter of 2005 matched the number of units shipped in the first quarter of 2004.

The CES collects monthly order and shipment data from manufacturers of plastic injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, auxiliary and component equipment manufacturers. The monthly data is compiled by a confidential third-party fiduciary, then aggregated and disseminated to participating companies, making the SPI program the only provider of timely and reliable plastics equipment statistics in the country.

The report can be purchased online at www.plasticsdatasource.org or by calling SPI's literature sales department, (800) 541-0736. The cost of the CES Annual Report (Reference No. AB-151) is free for SPI members, $580 for non-members. For a one-year subscription, which includes the Committee's Annual Report plus the quarterly reports (AB-152), the cost is free for members and $1,180 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 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.4 million workers and provides nearly $310 billion in annual shipments. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

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