COMPOSITESWORLD.COM is the #1 website for composites materials and services. COMPOSITESWORLD.COM receives over 40,000 unique visitors a month and is projecting over 3 million page views in 2006. High Performance Composites, Composites Technology and
Issue link: https://ct.epubxp.com/i/316482
1 3 By the Numbers C T J U N E 2 0 1 4 n March, the U.S. Composites Business Index reached a recent high of 56.3, and grew at its fastest rate since March 2012. Te Index was 8.7 percent higher than in March 2013, and it was the seventh month in a row that it was higher than in the same month the year before. New orders grew for the fourth straight month. Production ex- panded for the third consecutive month, reaching its fastest rate in nearly two years. Backlogs grew at an accelerating rate in the frst three months of 2014, indicating that capacity utilization and capital spending should increase all this year. Employment had increased for 13 months, and the hiring rate picked up sharply. Exports grew for the frst time, and supplier deliveries lengthened at their fast- est rate, since April 2012. Material prices increased again, but at a noticeably slower rate than in February. Prices received, however, contracted for the second time in fve months. Future business ex- pectations fell slightly, but was still strong and near its highest levels since the CBI began (December 2011). Te CBI was up sharply for facilities with 20+ employees, and at a rate as high as at any time in CBI history. But fabricators with 19 or fewer employees contracted afer two "up" months. For the frst time, all U.S. regions grew in the same month. Te East North Central and Pacifc regions grew fastest in March and the Pacifc grew for the sixth consecutive month. Composites Business Index 51.8: Growth rate cools I Bio | Steve Kline Steve Kline is the director of market intelligence for Gard- ner Business Media Inc. (GBM, Cincinnati, Ohio), the parent and publisher of CT and High-Performance Composites magazines. He started as a writing editor for another of GBM's publications before moving into his current role. Kline holds a BS in civil engineering from Vanderbilt Univer- sity and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati. Afer contracting signifcantly in February, future capital spend- ing plans increased 16.3 percent compared to March 2013. April's CBI of 51.8, lengthened the growth string to the ffh straight month and the sixth time in the previous seven months. Compared to one year ago, the index was up 2.2 percent. Tis was the eighth consecutive month the index was higher than it was one year earlier. Te annual rate of change had accelerated for three months, but it was also the CBI's lowest showing in 2014. Every subindex contributed to the slower rate: New orders grew for the ffh straight month, but the rate had slowed signifcantly since its January peak. Production had expanded for four straight months but at its slowest rate in 2014. Backlogs contracted for the frst time this year but were still 6.5 percent higher than they were one year earlier. Te annual rate of change in backlogs continued to accelerate, indicating higher capacity utilization and capital spend- ing for the remainder of 2014. Employment, for two months, in- creased at a faster rate than at any time since August 2012. Afer growing in March, exports contracted signifcantly in April. Supplier deliveries lengthened at a noticeably slower rate but contin- ued a trend begun in October 2013. Material prices increased at the March rate, and material prices contin- ued to increase at a signifcantly faster rate than in 2013. Prices received in- creased slightly in April afer decreasing in March. Future business expectations remained high, despite falling in the previous two months. A prime cause of April's noticeably slower growth was the change in busi- ness conditions at mid-size fabricators (50 to 249 employees). Afer growing at signifcant rates for some time, they saw sharp contraction in April. For those with 100 to 249 employees, the overall index fell nearly 20 points. Te largest fabricators saw their growth rate dip, but this slow- er rate was counterbalanced by faster growth at plants with 20 to 49 employees. Tose with fewer than 20 employees contracted at a rate similar to that in March. Four U.S. regions grew in April. Te North Central – East grew at its fastest rate for the second month in a row, having grown for seven straight months. Te Northeast, Southeast and West followed, the latter growing for the ninth month in the past 10. Only the North Central – West contracted, ending three months of growth. Future capital spending plans had been above $1,000,000 in fve of the previous six months. Compared to one year ago, April's spending plans subindex was up 9.1 percent. Although the annual rate of change was noticeably lower than it was from November to January, it had grown at an accelerating rate since January. | CT | THE COMPOSITES BUSINESS INDEX Subindices April March Change Direction Rate Trend New Orders 54.0 57.5 -3.5 Growing Slower 5 Production 57.1 62.5 -5.4 Growing Slower 4 Backlog 47.2 53.1 -5.9 Contracting From Growing 1 Employment 53.7 56.8 -3.1 Growing Slower 14 Exports 45.1 51.1 -6.0 Contracting From Growing 1 Supplier Deliveries 53.8 56.7 -2.9 Lengthening Less 29 Material Prices 64.2 64.3 -0.1 Increasing Less 29 Prices Received 51.2 49.3 1.9 Increasing From Decreasing 1 Future Business Expectations 73.8 76.0 -2.2 Improving Less 29 Composites Business Index 51.8 56.3 -4.5 Growing Slower 5 0614CT BytheNumbers-OK.indd 13 5/20/2014 7:53:22 AM