U.S. Plastics Industry Moving Ahead, an Industrial Info Market Brief

With the overall U.S. economy continuing to perform at high levels, the plastics industry will be able to enter its ninth year of expansion to stay in line with growth in other industrial sectors. The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.5% in this year's third quarter, government data released October 25 showed. It was the sixth consecutive quarter with growth above 2%. Industrial Info is tracking 57 projects worth nearly $609 million scheduled to kick off in the U.S. by the end of the year. Most of the investments involve new plant construction or updates to existing plants to add more capacity. The graphic below shows the distribution of capital projects across the various segments of the plastics industry in the U.S.