The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about the impact the drop in oil prices will have on the U.S. manufacturing industry. In How Cheaper Oil Helps U.S. Factories, Timothy Aeppel asserted that the cheaper oil is creating winners and losers among America’s factories.
According to Aeppel, manufacturers that use oil and products derived from it are benefiting the most. However, companies engaged in energy development are being impacted. Producers of everything from steel pipes and valves to earthmovers are now being squeezed.
“The fall in oil definitely cuts both ways, but I see the net demand for manufacturers going up,” as it stimulates more spending in other parts of the economy, said Dan North, lead economist for North America at Euler Hermes Economic Research in Owings Mill, Md. He points to auto sales, which notched their strongest November sales rate since 2003 last month.
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