Metal formers expect stable business conditions to start year

Metal forming companies continue to anticipate stable business conditions for the first few months of 2024 and are expressing more optimism about business activity month over month, according to the January 2024 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Prepared monthly, the report provides an economic indicator for the next three months of manufacturing, sampling 121 metal forming companies in the U.S. and Canada.

The January report shows that 60% of metal forming companies expect no change in general economic activity in the next three months (compared to 57% in December), 20% anticipate an increase in activity (up from 13% last month), and 20% predict a decrease in activity (dropping from 30% in December).

Metal formers also forecast an uptick in incoming orders, with 34% of survey respondents expecting an increase in orders during the next three months (up from 29% in December), 45% predicting no change in orders (compared to 41% in December), and 21% anticipating a decrease in orders (declining from 30% in December).

Current average daily shipping levels remained steady in January, with 44% reporting no change in shipping levels (compared to 43% in December), 40% reporting a decrease in levels (down from 43% last month), and 16% reporting an increase in shipping levels (compared to 14% in December).

Seven percent of metal forming companies reported an increase in lead times in January (the same percentage reported in December). Six percent of companies had a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff in January (compared to 7% in December), while 37% of companies are currently expanding their workforce (the same percentage reported in December).