A
new report from SPI, the plastics industry trade association, pres-
ents a detailed overview of the state of the U.S. plastics industry.
Size
and Impact of the Plastics Industry on the U.S. Economy,
published No-
vember 2013, notes that this industry has been one of the economy’s
largest and fastest growing. Although hit hard by the 2008-2009 reces-
sion, it is now recovering. Most plastics are used in manufacturing and
services are becoming increasingly important. Lower inflation, dollar
value reduction, and lower natural gas prices have spurred U.S. exports,
moderating the recession effects. Those same advantages should help the
plastics industry in the future, according to analysts. Mirroring numerous
other industries, a shrinking number of businesses indicate a continuing
consolidation trend. Key findings of the newly released report include:
The U.S. plastics industry is large, accounting for 892,000 jobs and
$373 billion in shipments during 2012. California has the largest plas-
tics industry employment,
but as a percentage of total
non-farm employment, the
industry is most important
to Michigan, where it ac-
counts for 15.8 of every 1000
non-farm jobs. Indiana is a
close second.
When suppliers to the
plastics industry are in-
cluded, jobs grow to 1.41 mil-
lion, and total shipments
reach $456 billion. The
plas-
tic products
portion of the in-
dustry was the eighth largest
U.S. industry in
2011, while the
plastic materials and syn-
thetics
sector (including
rubber and fiber) was the
twelfth largest.
Employment in plastics
manufacturing grew 0.1%
per year from 1980 to 2012,
outpacing manufacturing as
a whole, and shipments grew
at a 2.3% annual rate from
1980 to 2012. The recent industry slowdown largely reflects the recession
and slowing of the manufacturing sector as a whole.
The plastics industry has improved over the past two years.
Although manufacturing is still the main outlet for plastics, an in-
creasing share of plastics is going into services including wholesale and re-
tail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and healthcare. The U.S.
plastics industry, as documented by government data, operated an esti-
mated 15,949 manufacturing establishments in 2012 excluding businesses
that produce captive plastic products or supply goods and services to the
plastics industry.
For more information, visit
www.plasticsindustry.org.
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES •
APRIL 2014
4
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Just one word: Plastics
More on Metallurgy Lane
Our American metals history is so
interesting, especially when it includes
descriptions of why things happened. I
can see that Charles Simcoe, author of
the new “Metallurgy Lane” series, spent
a lot of time on his research including
extensive travel. The most surprising
thing I learned from the article is that
anthracite coal was used directly for fuel
in blast furnaces. I wonder if he came
across the historical Greenwood Fur-
nace* in Eastern Pennsylvania, and
whether or not the Cornwall open pit
mine* near Harrisburg is still operating?
Edward Dunn
[I was aware of the Greenwood Furnace,
but didn't know it was an ASM Historical
Landmark until I did some research after
Dunn’s email. The Cornwall mine closed
after the underground part flooded dur-
ing Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and the
open pit was abandoned in 1973. It had
been in operation for more than 230
years.—Charles R. Simcoe]
Pig iron production
I’d like to add a side note about pig
iron production. The blast furnaces
near St. James, Mo., (circa 1830) used
“long leaf” pine charcoal at the rate of
three tons of charcoal per ton of iron
produced. The two furnaces produced
about 16 tons of pig per day, hence
used 24 tons of charcoal. Pine pro-
duces very little charcoal compared to
hard woods, so vast stretches were de-
nuded. No replanting was done and
rain washed away what little soil was
there to begin with. The railroads took
the rest of the pines for ties (circa 1850-
1870). Today the Ozarks have only
scrub oak and cedar. The irony (pun in-
tended) is that the major industry there
today is still charcoal, now used in our
country’s barbeque pits!
Chuck Dohogne
Wonder of the world
Charles Simcoe wrote a good article
on wrought iron (February issue), but he
failed to mention one of the wonders of
human civilization—the Ashoka Pillar
(Delhi Iron Pillar*) in India. It was manu-
factured sometime around the 4th cen-
tury and has stood on open ground
since. It has neither weathered nor
shows any signs of rust or pitting.
Ashok Bhambri
*ASM Historical Landmarks. See more at
www.asminternational.org/membership/awards/historical-landmarks.
We welcome all comments
and suggestions. Send letters to
frances.richards@asminternational.org.
Plastics Industry Employment by Sector, 2012
Plastics work-
ing machinery,
1.3%
Molds for plastics,
1.6%
Wholesale, 3.7%
Captive plastic
products,
22.3%
Plastic materials
and resins, 6.5%
Plastic (except
packaging) film
and sheet, 4.0%
Plastic
bags,
3.5%
All other,
50.5%
U.S. total: 891,600
Source: SPI,
www.plasticsindustry.org.
Plastic bottles,
3.7%
Urethane and
other foam
products,
2.8%