Converting

The food and personal care sectors will lead growth in spending on packaging machinery in the US in a slow year for sales, according to the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI).

The PMMI has revised its predictions for 2008 for the first time in its purchasing plans study as the US economy declines and now expects an overall increase of 0.4% over 2007 in packaging machinery spending, compared with 0.6% in its initial survey.

The year's anticipated spending is expected to increase to $6.3bn (£3.2bn).

The food and personal care sectors predict growth of 3% and 2% respectively, up from 1% and 0%, while converters and printers forecast a decline of -5% and beverages -2%.

More than half of those surveyed (56%) said they would not change their purchasing plans for 2008. Of the rest, 23% said they had revised their budget higher, while 22% have scaled back.

PMMI chief executive Charles Yuska said: "The packaging machinery market's performance seems to be in line with today's broader economic picture and the slowness all industries are facing right now."

Of respondents who are planning to purchase packaging machinery this year, 48% said that sustainability was a key reason for the investment, with issues such as energy use and emissions, as well as general production costs and material waste, of growing focus.

The findings of both surveys were based on telephone interviews and online surveys conducted in December 2007 and January 2008 for the first report, and in April 2008 for the updated forecast.

The 511 respondents represented more than 1,500 US plants and 9,000 packaging lines.