SIC 3086 Plastics Foam Products

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• WORKFORCE.
• RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 3086

This industry covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing plastics foam products.

NAICS CODE(S)

326150

Urethane and Other Foam Product (except Polystyrene) Manufacturing

326140

Polystyrene Foam Product Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Total industry shipments in the polystyrene foam products market segment grew from $6.05 billion in 2002 to $7.07 billion in 2005. The cost of materials over the same period increased from $2.94 billion to $4.33 billion. In the urethane and other foam products sector, product shipments increased from $6.81 billion in 2002 to $8.69 billion to 2005, while material costs rose from $3.77 billion to $5.10 billion.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

In 2002, approximately 1,185 establishments were engaged in the production of plastic foam products. In 2005 the industry employed a total of 67,401 people, 52,657 of whom were production workers earning an average of $14.71 an hour

The largest number of plastic foam products establishments were located in the central Northeast region, followed by the middle Atlantic region and the Pacific region. However, when ranked by the number of establishments per state, California was first with 167, followed by Texas with 83, North Carolina with 80, Ohio with 77, and Michigan with 69. It was estimated that the largest five companies producing plastic foam products accounted for more than 59 percent of the entire industry's sales.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Plastics foam, sometimes called expandable plastics, are versatile materials that were first used in the post–World War II plastics boom. Plastic foam products are used as both original and replacement materials in industries. Foam products emerge out of a unique chemical process. Foamed plastic is an expanded material with a distinct cellular structure that can be either rigid or flexible. Rigid foam consists of hollow spheres attached together, while flexible foam has its cells connected, thus giving it a spongy structure. Polystyrene and polyurethane are used for rigid foams and vinyls and cellulose acetate. Linear polyurethanes traditionally have been used in flexible foams. By 1969 flexible urethane dominated the market, with polystyrene running second, rigid urethane third, and polyvinyl chloride fourth.

Following World War II, plastics foam consumption in the United States grew tremendously, increasing more than tenfold from 1955 to 1970. By 1967, total consumption of plastics foam products rose to 700 million pounds, or $60 million; by 1970, output weight was 1 billion pounds. It took only five years for this figure to double. More than 700 companies in the 1970s were somehow involved in the production of plastics foam, including most major chemical companies, rubber and tire companies, textile mills, and drug companies.

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