Composites GBI rebounds toward expansion in May

May’s Composites Fabricating reading shows some movement toward expansion since its drop in February. Source (All Images) | Gardner Intelligence

The Gardner Business Index (GBI) is an indicator of the current state of composites fabricating considering survey responses regarding new orders, production, backlog, employment, exports and supplier deliveries. Over 50 is expansion. Under 50 is contraction.

Gaining 2.1 points in May, the Composites Fabricating Index rebounded from a tough April to a reading of 49.4. The drop and recovery reflect the back-and-forth changes to tariff policy and shows that fabricators are adjusting and moving forward despite this volatility. Monthly gains in most components were not enough to lift many three-month averages, but nearly all components are in a better position than a year ago. An improvement in the Future Business Index kept the average from falling further, placing May results back in the familiar range of optimism that we saw before the spike at the start of 2025.

Many of May’s components made monthly gains, though not enough to lift many of the three-month averages.

Reading the scorecard

Color indicates where a component value falls relative to 50 for the current month. Green indicates expansion; red indicates contraction.

Shade indicates a value’s distance from 50; the darker the shade, the further from 50.

Direction indicates a value’s change versus the previous time period. Pointing up is always better.

Stronger optimism in May wasn’t enough to offset April’s drop landing the three-month average of the Future Business Index at 58.6.

The GBI Future Business Index is an indicator of the future state of the composites fabrication market industry respondents regarding their opinion of future business conditions for the next 12 months. Over 50 is expansion and under 50 is contraction.

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