North American shipments of plastics machinery continued to rise in the second quarter of 2018, the Plastics Industry Association's Committee on Equipment Statistics announced.

Reporting companies said $335.2 million worth of injection molding and extrusion machines was sold in this year's second quarter. That was a 1.6 percent increase over the first-quarter total of $329.8 million, but a 5.9 percent increase compared to the second quarter of last year.

This was the fifth consecutive quarterly year-over-year increase in shipments.