Plastic pipe makers continue to grow

Our updated extruders ranking is out, and the results show continued gains.

We've captured 187 pipe, profile and tubing extruders in North America for a total $32.6 billion in related sales. Pipe represents a little over half of that number, coming in at 52 percent or $16.7 billion. The average sales per company over the entire ranking is up 13.5 percent.

Commodity products typically have little room for diverging from material cost pass-through as the primary indicator of sales fluctuations, except if you are extruding pipe, apparently. In looking over annual reports, higher prices got the most mentions rather than higher raw material costs. Additional pipe plants and capacities came online in fiscal year 2021, and it looks like we'll see another bump when that cycle repeats itself over the next 12 months.

We've recently reported on a number of companies building pipe plants: Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Co., WL Plastics Manufacturing LLC, Dura-Line LLC and Bulldog Pipe LLC.

To visualize the gains from the past five years, I took a look at the average sales per company for pipe makers. This allows us to smooth out any in-ranking acquisitions, revealing a 55 percent jump over fiscal year 2018.

Our biggest non-pipe news comes from Pexco LLC, whose listing includes the acquisitions of shapes maker Plastic Profiles LLC and fluoropolymer products maker Enflo Corp.

Outperforming the market despite lower demand was heard across multiple markets. In fact, there were very few companies reporting organic declines in our ranking. The decking market did finally take a breath after several years of large growth. Based on my research, the pipe, profile and tubing extruders that reported gains went beyond the marginal changes in most resin costs.

One notable gain is Trusscore Inc., a maker of PVC wall and ceiling panels in Palmerston, Ontario, which reported an 82.5 percent gain to rank at No. 56. We reported on its renovation project in Vandalia, Ohio.

Welcome to the ranking, HDPE conduit makers Petroflex North America Ltd. of Gainesville, Texas, and startup Terra Star LLC of Rogersville, Mo.

• SeaGate Plastics of Waterville, Ohio, moved up 12 spaces to rank at No. 112.

• Armacell LLC of Chapel Hill, N.C., moved up 11 spaces to rank at No. 68.

• Parker Nexgen of Fergus, Ontario, moved up 11 spaces to rank at No. 134.

• BD Custom Manufacturing Inc. of Bristol, Ind., moved up 10 spaces to rank at No. 122.

• Teel Plastics LLC of Baraboo, Wis., moved up eight spaces to rank at No. 46.

• Renew Plastics LLC of Luxemburg, Wis., moved up eight spaces to rank at No. 78.

• MoistureShield Inc. of Springdale, Ark., moved up seven spaces to rank at No. 35.

• Poly Vinyl Co. Inc. of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., moved up seven spaces to rank at No. 78.

• Intek Plastics Inc. of Hastings, Minn., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 61.

• MAC Plastics Manufacturing Inc. of Olney, Ill., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 109.

• Formtech Enterprises Inc. of Naples, Fla., moved up six spaces to rank at No. 124.

If you work for a company that is missing from the ranking, then we would like to include you next time. Just send a note to me at [email protected] or mail your information to Plastics News, P.O. Box 790, Tallmadge, Ohio 44278.

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

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