This week we publish our ranking of North American mold makers. The top 100 are in print but all 140 firms are online.

Those 140 companies reported total 2019 fiscal year sales of $2.9 billion, a 0.1 percent drop vs. 2018.

And after examining all those surveys, one trend was clear: The firms whose primary focus is building injection molds for the automotive market saw an average sales decline. That's a trend that may continue in 2020 thanks to the coronavirus-related auto industry shutdown earlier this year.

Before the pandemic, toolbuilding was generally a glimpse into the near-term future for plastics processing. Molds are created before production begins, of course, so we can make a good guess about what's coming up for processors based on what tools have been ordered.

I looked at our data for average sales per company for mold makers the past few years and compared it to the average sales for injection molders, which is the largest processing sector. In that stretch, I noticed that mold makers' sales have been growing about twice as fast as injection molders.

If that logic holds, then next year's injection molders ranking may be in for a downturn, based on the average sales per tooling company, year-over-year, being flat. (Average sales per company in this year's ranking is $20.75 million, compared to $20.93 million last year).

But what about the pandemic? Mold production turnaround requirements have accelerated and a lot of personal protective equipment production is being donated, so perhaps capacity increases won't correlate to increased sales figures by the same traditional margins in 2020.

And what about raw material costs? For 2019, the benchmark cost of aluminum was down 13 percent, to $1,804 per metric ton, and steel prices were down 27 percent to $604 per tonne, with both expected to continue the trend downward. This could help margins for toolmakers going forward.

Industry consultant Laurie Harbour has been cautioning toolmakers to prepare for a downturn since before the pandemic. In her new forecast, she says 30 percent of all North American manufacturers are at risk of closing in the next 18 months, with 10-15 percent of those being mold and die shops.

That is a sobering message. So we will close with some good news: For the companies in our ranking that did report a gain, the average increase was 15 percent. And 37 percent of our companies did report a gain — some even in the 40-50 percent range.

So if your business held flat or saw single-digit growth, congratulations. You were right on track with your industry. But many firms did manage to outperform the average.

Keller is Plastics News' editorial research coordinator and author of the All Things Data blog on PlasticsNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @holleekeller.

First-Shot Mold Contractors Inc., an injection molds maker in Deer Park, N.Y.

International Mold and Production LLC, a full service tooling and molding company in Kenosha, Wis.

Jatco Machine & Tool Co. Inc., an injection molds and machined components manufacturer. in Pittsburgh.

Roembke Manufacturing & Design Inc., a mold maker specializing in liquid silicone rubber in Ossian, Ind.

F&S Tool Inc., an injection and compression molder and mold maker in Erie, Pa.

All-Plastics LLC, an injection molder and tool builder in Kerrville, Texas.

Reed City Group LLC of Reed City, Mich., moved up 16 spaces to rank at No. 58.

Helm Tool Co. Inc. of Elk Grove Village, Ill., moved up 14 to also land in a tie at No. 58.

D&S Mold & Tool Co. Inc. of Marinette, Wis., moved up 12 spaces to No. 113.

Flambeau Inc. of Baraboo, Wis., up 10 to No. 56.

American Tool & Engineering Inc. of Greene, Iowa, up nine to No. 83.

Elite Mold & Engineering Inc. of Shelby Township, Mich., climbed nine spaces to No. 93.

Extreme Tool & Engineering Inc. of Wakefield, Mich., up eight to No. 35.

Crescent Industries Inc. of New Freedom, Pa., up seven spaces to No. 108.

General Tool Specialties Inc. of Hillsborough, N.J., up six spaces to No. 114.

X-Cell Tool & Mold Inc. of Fairview, Pa., up six to No. 45.

The full listing is online at www.plasticsnews.com/rankings/mold-tool-makers, the data itself can be purchased from our data store at www.plasticsnews.com/data.

If you work for a company that is missing from the ranking, we would like to include you next time. Please download a survey form or contact Hollee Keller at [email protected] or mail your information to Plastics News, P.O. Box 790, Tallmadge, Ohio 44278.

Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

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