CLEVELAND, OH—April 17, 2019—Metalforming companies anticipate a dip in business conditions during the next three months, according to the April 2019 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Prepared monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 106 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.

The April report shows that 23% of participants anticipate an improvement in economic activity during the next three months (down from 37% in March), 60% forecast no change (compared to 49% last month), and 17% predict a decline in activity (up from 14% in March).

“The Business Conditions Report reflects the growing concern of metalforming manufacturers that the Section 232 steel tariffs are creating a drag on the U.S. manufacturing sector,” said PMA President David Klotz. “PMA members were in Washington, D.C. last week warning members of Congress that manufacturers were experiencing the negative consequences of these tariffs. We spoke to members of Congress and staff about lost business to overseas competitors, who are paying global market prices for steel while the United States continues to be an island of high steel prices. It’s time to terminate the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports before further damage is done to our manufacturing sector.”

Metalforming companies expect incoming orders to decline during the next three months, with 39% predicting an increase in orders (down from 50% in March), 43% anticipating no change in orders (compared to 38% in March), and 18% forecasting a decrease in orders (compared to 12% last month).

Current average daily shipping levels remained steady in April. Thirty-six percent of participants report that shipping levels are above the levels of three months ago (the same percentage reported in March), 40% report that levels are the same (compared to 43% the previous month), and 24% report a decrease in shipping levels (up from 21% in March).

The percentage of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff dropped to 7% in April, down from 8% in March. At this time last year, only 2% of companies reported workers on short time or layoff. 

The monthly Business Conditions Report has been conducted by PMA since 1979. Full report results are available at http://www.pma.org/public/business_reports/pdf/BCREP.pdf. PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $137-billion metalforming industry of North America—the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other value-added processes. Its nearly 800 member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. PMA leads companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability through advocacy, networking, statistics, the PMA Educational Foundation, FABTECH and METALFORM Mexico tradeshows, and MetalForming and 3D Metal Printing magazines.