Perc Pineda, PhD
Chief Economist, PLASTICS
Each year, the Plastics Industry Association releases one of our flagship publications, the Global Trends Report. Written from the perspective of the U.S. plastics industry, the report provides a detailed assessment of plastics trade during the previous year and the first six months of the current year.
Last year’s report highlighted a $1.0 billion U.S. trade surplus in plastics for the first six months. It also projected that the U.S. would return to a plastics trade surplus in 2023, which appears to be confirmed in this year’s forthcoming Global Trends Report.
However, trade challenges can arise at any point, and the plastics industry’s supply chain is no exception as in any global industry. For instance, the dockworkers’ strike along the East and Gulf Coasts, which began on October 1, could create significant supply chain disruptions if not resolved promptly, and their overall impact on the macroeconomy could be inflationary.
During a roundtable discussion this week, led by U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary Grant Harris, the Plastics Industry Association expressed concerns about the state of trade, noting that plastics imports totaled $38.7 billion in the first half of 2024, while exports reached $38.6 billion. Trade in plastics has far-reaching implications for the U.S. economy, given the wide range of industries plastics serve.
Perc Pineda, PhD, Chief Economist of PLASTICS, shared his concerns with during the discussion: “From a broader supply chain perspective, we hope the issue is resolved soon,” Pineda said, adding that, “in the meantime, the U.S. plastics industry, by and large, has the capacity to address potential supply gaps in manufacturing inputs due to the ports strike, just as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic – to keep the U.S. economy moving.”
Although the U.S.’s free trade partners, Mexico and Canada, accounted for 45.1% of total U.S. plastics industry exports and 30.3% of imports year-to-date through July 2024, with trade primarily moving by rail or truck, trade with other countries also plays a significant role. As of July 2024, the estimated total exports of plastics materials and products, excluding plastics machinery and molds for plastics, originating from The East and Gulf ports were $17.9 billion while imports were $17.0 billion.
Since PLASTICS began tracking global players in plastics in its annual Global Plastics Rank®, the U.S. has consistently ranked second to China, surpassing Germany which holds the third position, as a key global player in plastics trade.
This year’s edition of the annual Global Trends Report will be released on October 16, 2024, at the inaugural National Plastics Conference in Houston, TX. For more information on the event, visit: https://nationalplasticsconference.org/
