Moderate Growth in the USA

This means a slight 0.6% increase over 2007 – based on a study on purchasing behaviour in the packaging machinery sector carried out by the North American Packaging Machinery Manufacturers’ Institute (PMMI). This survey also shows that only the food and body care sectors will experience moderate growth (up to +4% and +2% respectively) while other sectors will suffer a slight drop in demand (beverages up to – 3%, pharmaceuticals up to – 2%, chemical up – 1% and non-food up to –1%).

Confirming these results Charles D. Yuska, President and CEO of the Institute, said: “Our members’ customers want to stick to their planned investment in packaging machinery for 2008 despite an increasingly sluggish economy. Approximately 85% of the 511 investment decision-makers polled in our survey intend to spend roughly the same amount in 2008 as in 2007.” Yuska said the reasons for investment decisions were a desire to replace older equipment in order to increase speed, productivity and efficiency (39.8%), a desire to purchase new packaging lines to package new products (36.2%) or to increase output (35.3%), a wish to further automate packaging lines (34.4%) as well as a wish to replace older equipment to improve the operational reliability of production lines and cut maintenance costs (32.6%).

The survey was based on the following conditions: US GNP is rising by 1% to 2% in real terms. Capacity utilisation at manufacturing sites remains at the same level as in 2007 (approx. 80%) but will drop slightly towards the end of the year. Food producers will retain their high capacity utilization rates of 84% to 86% for the remainder of 2008. The consumer climate will darken and consumers will be more reticent to spend in 2008 in view of stricter borrowing terms, dwindling real estate prices and higher food and energy costs. The export conditions for US-American companies remain favourable considering a weak dollar and flourishing foreign markets.