May 2023 Volume 5

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT

Growth In Impression Die Tonnage Surpasses Receipts By Ian Stringer

In February, bookings for all forged products normalized following a significant surge in January 2023. Although the bookings index exhibited substantial volatility over the past three months, it only registered a modest increase of 3.7 percent compared to the average

level observed during the previous nine months. Despite the index's fluctuation, bookings remain robust in relation to shipments, indicating that demand continues to outpace the industry's shipping capacity.

Figure 1: Growing backlog indicated by the gap between orders and shipments illustrated by the red arrows over the past two years is now starting to diminish. Source - FIA's O&S Survey

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2023 52