GBI activity knocks at the door of expansion in April

GBI: Composites Fabricating activity contracted in April but came very close to crossing the threshold to expansion; at an index of 49.6, it was up slightly from March’s 49.0, continuing to inch toward a reading of 50. We can only hope that once activity expands, the trajectory will look like the last “crossing” back in September 2020 — shown above where the graph intersects 50 between April ’20 and April ’21 —which was sustained for more than 2 years before slowing in December 2022 onward.

New orders and production are the main components that saw slowed contraction again in April, driving the overall index. Backlog did the same, but remained at a lower value.  

Exports and employment also contracted at slower rates. This marks a turnaround for employment, which had been contracting at accelerating rates for 3 months straight.

Supplier deliveries continued to lengthen at an accelerated rate while business sentiment (not included in GBI calculation) was the same positive value in April that it was in March.