Composites industry activity continued to contract faster in June
Composites Fabricating’s second month of contraction, also reflected in other industry segments, suggests larger factors are at play.
GBI: Composites Fabricating in June is down 1.7 points from May. Source (All Images) | Gardner Intelligence
GBI: Composites Fabricating index landed on a reading in June — 45.1 — that is the lowest since June 2020. The composites industry is not alone in experiencing contraction, a circumstance that is not very comforting. Being in the company of the other plastics and metalworking industry segments does, however, suggest that higher level domestic and global factors are broadly impacting manufacturing.
New orders and backlog accelerated contraction for the first time in months, to degrees that likely drove the overall index decline. Production accelerated contraction for the second month in a row.
Accelerated contraction in new orders and backlog appear to be driving accelerated contraction of the overall index. (This graph shows three-month moving averages.)
Employment and exports were technically even with May, the former directionally up, slowing contraction, and the latter trending a bit down, accelerating contraction.
Supplier deliveries continued to be on the slow side, maintaining a level even with last month.
Business sentiment (not included in GBI calculation) remained on the positive side in June, though it is just beginning to show signs of weakening.
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Composites GBI lost a little ground in June
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Composites GBI remains relatively unchanged in May
The GBI: Composites closed May at the same reading reported in April, with some minor fluctuations in component activity.
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Composites activity returned with accelerated contraction in September
The GBI: Composites contracted faster again in September, closing down 1.6 points to 45.9, the lowest the index has been in more than 2 years.
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