With a reading of 45.9, Gardner's Plastics Processors' Business Index contracted in July for the third time in four months. The index suggests the plastics processing industry has been on a downward trend since March. New orders contracted for the third time in four months, falling significantly since their peak in March. The new-orders index was near its lowest level since January 2013. Also, production has contracted three times in the last four months, although the index was unchanged from last month. While the backlog index had contracted at a steady rate for four months, it dropped notably in June and only slightly in July. The employment index contracted for the second month in a row, although the contraction was moderate in both months. The export index dropped notably for the last two months, but overall the trend is one of decelerating contraction since November 2015. Supplier deliveries lengthened for the sixth month in a row.
展开▼
