Metalforming manufacturing companies expect little change in business conditions during the next three months, according to the March 2018 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Prepared monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling nearly 125 metalforming companies in North America.
The March report shows that 49% of participants forecast an improvement in economic activity during the next three months (compared to 48% in February), 45% expect no change (down from 49% last month) and 6% anticipate a decline in activity (compared to 3% in February).
PMA received most of the responses for this month’s report prior to the U.S. government’s announcement that the United States was imposing 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum imports. Unfortunately, the tariffs will likely cause the United States to become an island of high steel prices that will result in metalforming manufacturers’ customers sourcing products from our overseas competitors and importing them into the United States tariff-free. Our members went through this in 2002, when the U.S. government imposed tariffs on steel imports leading to the loss of 19 percent of all metalforming manufacturers in the United States due to high steel prices and business lost to overseas competitors. This is why PMA’s advocacy team is working diligently in Washington, D.C., to convince the government to terminate these tariffs as quickly as possible.
Roy Hardy, PMA President
Metalforming companies also anticipate steady incoming orders during the next three months, with 54% predicting an increase in orders (compared to 53% in February), 39% expecting no change in orders (compared to 45% in February), and 7% forecasting a decrease in orders (up from 2% in February).
Current average daily shipping levels dipped in March. Forty-seven percent of participants report that shipping levels are above the levels of three months ago (down from 55% in February), 39% report that levels are the same (up from 35% the previous month), and 14% report a decrease in shipping levels (up from 10% in February).
The percentage of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff dropped to 3% in March, down from 4% in February. This figure is much better than during March 2017, when 9% of companies reported workers on short time or layoff.
The monthly Business Conditions Report has been conducted by PMA since 1979. Full report results are available. PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $137-billion metalforming industry of North America—the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other value-added processes. Its nearly 800 member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. PMA leads companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability through advocacy, networking, statistics, the PMA Educational Foundation, FABTECH and METALFORM Mexico tradeshows, and MetalForming, Fabricating Product News and 3D Metal Printing magazines.
Contact: Christie Carmigiano
Precision Metalforming Association
216-503-5716
ccarmigiano@pma.org