Plastics Industry Data

MyPlasticsindustry.com is the "source of sources" for information on the plastics industry as supplied by the Society of the Plastics Industry and allied organizations.

Plastics play an indispensable role in a wide variety of markets, ranging from packaging and building/construction to transportation; consumer and institutional products; furniture and furnishings; electronics and more.

Industry Facts At-A-Glance

Plastics product manufacturing is fourth among the top manufacturing industry groups in the United States. The plastics industry as a whole, including resin (raw material) suppliers, plastic product manufacturers and machinery and moldmakers, contributes 1.3 million jobs. and $345 billion in shipments to the U.S. economy. Another 735,000 persons are employed by upstream industries that supply the plastics industry, which brings the employment impact to 2.1 million – about 2 percent of the U.S. workforce. Upstream industries add an additional $93 billion to the value of industrial shipments, bringing the total annual shipments from plastics activity to $438 billion.

Plastics Fact Sheet

Based upon 2006 data contained in SPI’s Size and Impact of the Plastics Industry on the U.S. Economy and Global Business Trends studies

Industry-wide Key Statistics, 2006
(industry = plastics manufacturing + wholesale trade + captive production)

• 1,130,300 workers
  • loss of 276,300 jobs (20% decrease in the workforce from ’02)
  • 1,406,600 workers in 2002
• Shipments worth $ 378.83 billion
  • $ 69.21 billion increase in value of shipments (22% increase from ’02)
  • In 2002, shipments were valued at $ 309.62 billion
• Number of establishments = 18,585 (manufacturing + wholesale trade, does not include captive facilities)
  • Loss of 1,374 facilities since 2002 (7% decrease; 19,959 facilities in ’02)

Key Indicators for Manufacturing and Captive Production, 2006

	Number of Employees (thousand)	Annual Payroll ($million)	Average Production Workers (thousand)	Production Worker Wages ($million)	Value Added ($million)	Cost of Materials ($million)	Value of Industrial Shipments ($million)	New Capital Expenditures ($million)
Manufacturing	844.2	34,238.3	644.2	22,068.7	119,430.5	157,170.7	274,964.3	9,146.6
Captives	253.5	9,612.7	196.4	6,287.4	29,961.4	34,755.9	64,520.2	2,167.3
Total, Mfg. + Captives	1,097.7	43,850.9	840.6	28,356.1	149,391.9	191.926.6	339,484.5	11,313.9

Changes from 2002, Manufacturing and Captives

• 267,600 fewer employees (20% decrease).
• Production worker wages decreased by $925 million.
• Value added increased by $18.16 billion (14% increase).
• Cost of materials increased by $51.99 billion (37% increase).
• New Capital Expenditures declined by $1.1 billion (10% decrease).

Changes from 2002, Plastics Manufacturing

• 71,100 fewer employees (8% decrease).
• Value added increased by $28.4 billion (31% increase).
• The value of shipments increased by $81.4 billion (42% increase).

Ranking Compared to Other Industries

• Plastics Products (NAICS 3261), which accounts for most of the plastics processing industry, was the fifth largest U.S. manufacturing industry in 2005 in terms of shipments—after Petroleum and Coal Products, Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Parts and Animal Slaughtering and Processing.
• Production of resins, synthetic materials, and rubber (NAICS 3252) was ranked thirteenth.
• Together, shipments for plastics products and resins amount to the third-largest manufacturing industry in the United States.

Location of the Plastics Industry

• In 2006, the top ten states for plastics industry employment were: California, Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New York
• Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin and North Carolina changed places from 2005 to 2006. Indiana ranked sixth in 2005, but seventh in 2006; Pennsylvania was seventh in 2005, but sixth in 2006; New York was eighth in 2005, but 10th in 2006; Wisconsin was ninth in 2005, but eighth in 2006 and North Carolina ranked 10th in 2005, but ninth in 2006.
• Some states have done better than others. Since 1996, states in the Northeast and Midwest have lost some rank in plastics industry employment, while those in the South and West have gained.
• In terms of concentration of plastics employment (as per 1,000 agricultural employees), the top ten states were: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, South Carolina, Illinois, Rhode Island, Mississippi, and Tennessee South Carolina rose from sixth place to fifth; Illinois joined the top 10 in seventh place; Rhode Island fell from sixth place to eighth; Mississippi fell from eighth place to ninth; Tennessee fell from ninth place to 10th and Iowa fell out of the top 10.
• The overall concentration of plastics employment throughout the United States has decreased in recent years. In 2006, the average concentration in the country was 8.3 plastics employees per 1,000 non-agricultural workers, down from 8.6 in 2005. Plastics employment in Indiana, the state with highest plastics concentration, declined from 19.7 employees per 1,000 non-agricultural workers in 2005 to 19.4 in 2006. These declines in concentration primarily reflect the decline of manufacturing in the United States relative to other sectors, especially services.

The U.S. Plastics Market

• Value-based calculation of apparent consumption showed that demand increased by 7.6% in 2006 (from $252 billion in 2005 to $271 billion in 2006). This growth rate was below the 9.7% increase in 2005 but still higher than the 6.7% growth in 2004.
• U.S.-produced goods retained significant market share. Industry-wide, domestically-produced goods accounted for 85.4% of apparent consumption; imports were 14.6% of apparent consumption. In 2006, the import share of apparent consumption increased by 0.1 percentage points.

Summary of Industry-wide Trade Flows

• Exports increased from $38.64 billion in 2005 to $43.04 billion in 2006 (12.3% increase).
• Imports increased from $34.96 billion in 2005 to $37.58 billion in 2006 (7.5% increase).
• The industry’s trade surplus grew from $3.69 billion in 2005 to $5.82 billion in 2006.
• Imports from China are having a significant impact on the industry. Trade in plastics products reached a deficit of $4.71 billion. The plastics product deficit with China alone amounted to a record $6.48 billion in 2006. However, in addition to being a significant import source, China has also become the industry’s third-largest export market.
• Top five export markets for the industry in 2006 were: Canada (24%), Mexico (24%), China (6%), Belgium (4%), and Japan (4%).
• Top five import sources of plastics industry goods were: Canada (33%), China (20%), Germany (7%), Mexico (7%), Japan (6%).
• Imports of goods that “contain” resins and plastics products are becoming increasingly important.

Estimates of “contained trade” suggest that while “true consumption” of plastics is growing (much faster than apparent consumption), imports of products that contain resins/plastics products are benefiting/driving this growth.

Bonus: Preview of 2007 Trade Data for the Period July – August 2007
(not included in Global Business Trends report)

• Exports increased 11.3%, while imports decreased 2.1% from the same period last year.
• The industry’s trade surplus continues to grow substantially; as of August, 2007 it reached $6.9 billion, surpassing last year’s total surplus of $5.8 billion.
• Canada and Mexico remain the industry’s largest trading partners. China continues to be the industry’s third largest export market.

Download PDF - Plastics Fact Sheet

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