Composites Index shows little change in January
The GBI: Composites Fabricating closed January at around the same contractionary reading in December, with a majority of components following suit.
Steady change. Composites Fabricating activity contracted about the same in January as it did in December. Photo Credit, all images:Gardner Intelligence
The contraction in Composites Fabricating activity seen in December continued into January. The Gardner Business Index (GBI) closed the month out at 48.5, following December’s similar reading of 48.9.
Most of the components followed suit, doing “more of the same” as seen in the past few months — specifically, components that contracted in December also contracted in January. In fact, new orders, exports and backlog have contracted a little faster each month since March/April 2022. Production and employment activity, which, on the other hand, have been growing faster for a couple months, grew slightly faster again in January. Supplier deliveries continued to lengthen at a continually slowing rate, indicating either supply chain issues have calmed, expectations have been adjusted and/or workarounds have been implemented.
Similarly, future business, a separate sentiment metric on business expectations that is not part of the GBI calculation, improved faster in January like it did in December.
Looking to the future. Production and employment activity grew faster in December, along with future business. (This graph is on a three-month moving average.)
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