U.S. plastics industry continues to post significant growth

The plastics industry sustains its growth momentum and importance in the U.S. economy. In 2014, the U.S. shipped $427.3 billion in goods. And, for the third consecutive year, consumption of plastics industry goods hit record-setting levels, growing 6% to $298.3 billion in 2014, according to SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association.

The SPI announced the release of two reports,  “The Definition, Size and Impact of the U.S. Plastics Industry” and “Global Business Trends" which contain relevant information on the U.S. plastics industry's performance.

SPI anticipates in 2015 that the industry will exceed $300 billion in consumption as the plastics industry maintains a significant domestic market share. "As the nation’s third largest manufacturing sector, plastics is one of the U.S. economy’s largest and fastest growing industries,” said William R. Carteaux, SPI president and CEO. Mr. Carteaux added that the data show that the plastics industry is setting records across the world as a major force driving employment, technology, and product and material sales.

The low cost of natural gas, and to a lesser extent, oil in the U.S. compared to other regions, has driven down the cost of doing business in the U.S. for the plastics industry. Also, the development of unconventional oil and gas technologies – particularly shale – in the U.S. has made the country even more competitive in its production of chemicals and resins.  

Plastics industry employment has also been growing in terms of importance, with 5 percent increase in 2014 or 940,000 U.S. jobs, compared to 892,000 in 2012 (the latest government data available). As an industry, employment grew 0.3 percent per year from 1980 to 2014 -- compared to manufacturing as a whole, in which employment declined 1.3 percent per year during the same time frame.

For the first time, Texas overtook California to lead the country in plastics industry employment with 76,990 jobs (compared to 73,800 for California). As a percentage of total non-farm employment, the plastics industry is most important in Indiana, where it accounts for 16.4 of every 1,000 non-farm jobs. Michigan is a close second.