Forecast 2026 (CONT’D FROM PAGE 28)
Board Converting NEWS INTERNET DIRECTORY
bellwether of the economy. “Our forecast for year-over- year retail sales growth is 3.8 percent for 2026, down from the 4.5 percent of 2025,” said Scott Hoyt, Senior Director of Consumer Economics for Moody’s Analytics (economy. com). Much of the increase in both years is due to inflation. “High prices are a bit of a mixed bag,” said Hoyt. “They undermine consumer purchasing power and confidence, but they also support nominal sales by lifting the prices of the goods retailers are selling.” Construction Woes Outside of the single-family home market, contractors are having problems of their own. Multifamily builders, working through a backlog of units under construction, are hesitant to break ground on new ones. “I think we’ll see less multifamily construction in 2026,” said Conerly. “Vacancy rates are going up and rents have been coming down at the rate of about one percent a year.” Meanwhile, contractors attached to the commercial, of- fice and hotel markets are feeling the sting of a slowing economy, high interest rates, and an environment rife with uncertainty. “Many areas of non-residential are trending flat or edging down,” said Conerly. “Even the chip fabs, while still strong, are tapering down.” The one bright construction sector: data centers. They show no signs of diminishing and are big customers for electricians, plumbers, and suppliers of scaffolding and manufactured products of all kinds. “When I look at the detail and the economic statistics of what kind of capital equipment is being bought, I am seeing a lot of data cen- ter-related equipment in there,” said Conerly. “Data cen- ters also require a lot of garden variety wiring, connectors, and plumbing for cooling.” Every sector of the construction industry shares a common challenge: labor availability. Oxford Economics forecasts an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent and 4.3 percent at the end of 2025 and 2026, respectively. That’s not much higher than the 4.1 percent clocked at the end of 2024. Low unemployment, largely due to slowing growth in the nation’s working age population and aggressive im- migration policies, can result in rising labor costs. Business Confidence For all business sectors, money and labor are not the only production factors on the rise. “The real problem is the world has become much more expensive in the last few years,” noted Basu. “Construction materials are more expensive. And of course there are tariffs on items like steel, aluminum, and copper.” Little wonder the high cost of doing business is top of mind for many operators. “As we head into 2026, the area of most concern for manufacturers is profit margin,” said Basu. “Many operators are simultaneously experiencing an increase in costs of delivering services while demand fades.” Given the variety of business concerns, it’s little won-
CORRUGATED REPLACEMENTS, INC. www.corrugatedparts.com
Corrugated Replacements, Inc. is a production powerhouse that manufactures high quality machine parts and replace- ment parts for the corrugated and paperboard converting industries. CRI can redesign, engineer, and manufacture any part while providing a rapid turn-around rate, keeping machines running at their peak performance and limiting down time.
C.U.E., INC. www.AnvilCovers.com
Makers of single and dual-width Timesaver® Anvil Covers, the premier urethane anvil cover for corrugated die cutting. Timesaver® covers feature construction of solid steel back- ing and solid steel locking components to ensure a precise fit every time. C.U.E., Inc. also offers Dura-Latch and Cor- Lock anvil covers, and urethane Lead Edge Feed Wheels.
EMBA www.embausa.com
The EMBA group supports a complete line of corrugated converting machinery for the worldwide market. EMBA’s Quick Set technology enables the highest productivity across a broad range of converting equipment, from mini to super jumbo. EMBA also includes the McKinley jumbo line of flexo folder gluers and rotary die cutters as well as ser- vice, rebuilds and upgrades for both EMBA and McKinley.
EAGLEWOOD TECHNOLOGIES, LLC www.eaglewoodtech.com
Eaglewood Technologies offers trusted cleaning technolo- gies for the world’s best printers and converters. Solutions include the award winning Sitexco+ Anilox Laser System, the Nanovis Parts Washing System, the Sitexco L10 Label System, the innovative Sanilox™ System or Alphasonics solutions. We also offer Xpress™ mobile cleaning service at your facility or ours. ESKO www.esko.com ArtiosCAD and Kongsberg are the most trusted names in CAD/CAM solutions. Esko’s ArtiosCAD is the most widely used CAD software in the world. Esko’s Kongsberg series of tables brings you reliable, outstanding quality for sample- making and short run production.
DOMINO www.dominodigitalprinting.com
Domino is a leading manufacturer and distributor of digital printing and product identification solutions. Celebrating its 44th year, Domino is headquartered in the UK and North America headquarters are Illinois. Domino has 25 subsid- iaries, representation in over 120 countries, and over 2,900 employees worldwide .
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
30
www.boardconvertingnews.com
November 3, 2025
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease