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50 Injection Moulding Lubrication and Downtime Statistics Engineers Need in 2025

 

 

Statistics you need to know in injection moulding lubrication

Contents

1. Global and UK moulding market context

  • Global injection moulding market value Grand View Research estimates the global injection moulding market at about US$298.7 billion in 2024, with projections near US$462.4 billion by 2033, at around 5 percent compound annual growth. Source: Grand View Research, Injection Molding Market.
  • Alternative global market estimate MarketDataForecast places the global injection moulding market at about US$22.6 billion in 2024 and US$38.0 billion by 2033, with expected growth of about 5.9 percent. Source: MarketDataForecast, Injection Molding Market.
  • Global injection moulded plastics A 2025 review values the injection moulded plastics market at about US$146.0 billion in 2024, rising towards US$211.0 billion by 2034, at about 3.7 percent growth. Source: Professionals UK, Injection Molded Plastic Market Outlook.
  • Global injection mould market for tooling The injection mould tooling market was about US$27.9 billion in 2023 and could reach about US$35.7 billion by 2030, at roughly 3.6 percent growth. Source: Bonafide Research, Global Injection Mould Market.
  • Global plastic injection moulding machine market The plastic injection moulding machine market is about US$12.31 billion in 2024 and may reach about US$19.72 billion by 2034, close to 4.8 percent compound growth. Source: Precedence Research, Plastic Injection Molding Machine Market.
  • Alternative machine market benchmark MarketsandMarkets sets the plastic injection moulding machine market at about US$11.98 billion in 2024, with projections near US$14.78 billion by 2030, around 3.5 percent growth. Source: MarketsandMarkets, Plastic Injection Molding Machine.
  • UK injection moulded plastics market size UK injection moulded plastics generated about US$14.63 billion in revenue in 2023 and may reach around US$18.72 billion by 2030, which implies about 3.6 percent annual growth. Source: Grand View Research, UK Injection Molded Plastic Market.
  • UK injection moulding machine market The UK injection moulding machine market is valued at around US$607.5 million in 2023, with growth to about US$642.6 million by 2030, close to 0.4 percent annual growth. Source: Next Move Strategy, UK Injection Molding Machine Market.
  • Scale of the UK plastics industry The British Plastics Federation reports UK plastics industry turnover of more than £32.8 billion, with around 160,000 people directly employed and about 5,700 plastics companies. Source: British Plastics Federation, UK Plastics Industry at a Glance.
  • UK plastics volumes processed UK firms process around 3.5 million tonnes of plastic materials per year, with about 1.8 million tonnes produced in the UK and export sales up about 10 percent between 2021 and 2022. Source: British Plastics Federation, UK Plastics Industry at a Glance.

2. Machines, technology and energy demand

  • European machine market share Europe accounts for about 22.9 percent of global injection moulding machine revenue in 2024, with Asia Pacific projected to hold the leading share in future years. Source: Grand View Research, Europe Injection Molding Machine Market.
  • European machine market value The Europe injection moulding machine market is valued at about US$5.56 billion in 2023 and forecast to reach around US$7.07 billion by 2030, at roughly 3.2 percent growth. Source: Next Move Strategy, Europe Injection Molding Machine Market.
  • Asia Pacific dominance Asia Pacific holds around 39 percent of the global plastic injection moulding machine market by revenue in 2024. Source: Precedence Research, Plastic Injection Molding Machine Market.
  • Global market orientation PreventiveHQ summarises the injection moulding sector as a roughly US$365 billion global market with expected growth around 4.8 percent per year through 2028, driven by automotive, packaging and consumer goods. Source: PreventiveHQ, Injection Molding Industry Insights.
  • Energy savings with all electric machines AcoMold reports electricity savings of about 20 to 40 percent when moulders move from hydraulic presses to all electric injection moulding machines. Source: AcoMold, Electric vs Hydraulic Injection Molding Machine.
  • More detailed energy comparison Plastics Engineering explains that modern all electric presses can save around 50 percent of energy compared with older hydraulic machines, and about 20 to 30 percent relative to efficient servo hydraulic presses. Source: Plastics Engineering, Energy Saving Devices on Injection Molding Machines.
  • Machine maker energy data ENGEL states that its servo hydraulic presses consume under 60 percent of the energy used by a conventional hydraulic press, while all electric machines can more than halve consumption again, and temperature control upgrades can cut a further about 20 percent. Source: ENGEL, Reduce Power Consumption of Injection Moulding Machines.
  • Vendor efficiency claims Shibaura Machine reports that all electric injection moulding machines can be up to 80 percent more energy efficient than older hydraulic predecessors, while OUCO cites savings of up to 75 percent energy use compared with conventional machines. Sources: Shibaura Machine, All Electric Injection Molding Machines; OUCO Machinery, All Electric vs Hydraulic Machines.
  • Efficiency compared with legacy presses Advanced Plastiform notes that modern all electric presses can be up to 80 percent more efficient than hydraulic machines built around the year 2000. Source: Advanced Plastiform, Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Injection Molding.
  • Typical utilisation targets PreventiveHQ benchmarks injection moulding machine utilisation at around 75 to 85 percent of available time, so lubrication related downtime quickly erodes capacity. Source: PreventiveHQ, Injection Molding Industry Insights.

3. Downtime, maintenance cost and efficiency

  • Downtime cost in injection moulding plants Unplanned machine downtime in injection moulding commonly costs around US$5,000 to US$15,000 per hour. Source: PreventiveHQ, Injection Molding Industry Insights.
  • Maintenance share of production cost Maintenance usually represents about 8 to 12 percent of total production costs in injection moulding factories. Source: PreventiveHQ, Injection Molding Industry Insights.
  • Annual maintenance cost per machine Annual maintenance costs for injection moulding machines are around US$5,000 to US$15,000 for small and medium presses, rising to about US$20,000 to US$50,000 for large machines. Source: M-DTG, Maintenance Costs of an Injection Mold Machine.
  • Cap moulding maintenance budgets Cap injection moulding machines often have maintenance budgets of about US$1,000 to US$3,000 per year for smaller equipment and US$3,000 to US$8,000 per year for larger or high speed machines. Source: Tzdegree, Maintenance Costs of a Cap Injection Molding Machine.
  • Cost of internal water leaks in a mould One case study describes about 173.25 hours of lost productivity at about US$45 per hour of press idle time, plus about US$4,200 in extra labour and US$2,810 in tooling, for a total loss near US$23,468 from water leaks. Source: Slide Products, The Real Cost of Water Leaks.
  • Manufacturing downtime benchmarks In FMCG factories a lost production hour can be worth around US$39,000, while in automotive plants the figure can reach about US$2 million per hour. Source: Intouch Monitoring, Machine Downtime Value.
  • Annual cost of unplanned downtime Across manufacturing as a whole, unplanned downtime can cost up to US$50 billion each year and can amount to roughly 800 hours of lost equipment time per factory per year. Source: PlastikMedia, FourJaw Cost of Downtime in Manufacturing.
  • Wider downtime cost range A maintenance strategy guide suggests that across industries lost production during unplanned outages can range from about US$5,000 up to more than US$50,000 per hour. Source: PreventiveHQ, Maintenance Strategies Guide.
  • Effect of poor maintenance on press life One moulding blog warns that neglecting injection moulding machine maintenance can reduce functional life to about one to two years, instead of a much longer operating life. Source: GudMould, Why Injection Molding Factories Lose Money.
  • Hidden cost example for a single machine A UK costing example shows that a machine worth about £200,000 sitting idle for three hours per week at around £400 of value per hour leads to lost value of more than £60,000 per year. Source: Skynet Accounting, Cost of Machine Downtime in Manufacturing.

4. Lubricants, hydraulic fluids and shop floor practice

  • Injection moulding is lubrication intensive The British Plastics Federation describes injection moulding as one of the prime plastics processes for large volumes of parts, with reliable lubrication of hydraulic systems, slides and ejector pins critical to consistent output. Source: BPF Plastipedia, Injection Moulding Process.
  • Effect of filtration on hydraulic oil cleanliness A Reddit technician notes that an older 28 tonne Arburg press with about 18 million cycles still had a hydraulic tank that looked new because its oil filtration ran about four times per year. Source: Reddit r/InjectionMolding, Change the Oil Regularly.
  • Hydraulic oil change intervals in small systems A discussion on small hydraulic systems suggests a practical oil change interval of about six months for volumes around 20 to 40 litres of hydraulic oil, unless fluid analysis shows problems. Source: Reddit r/Hydraulics, Oil Change Intervals.
  • Visual sign of water contamination In the same discussion, contributors observe that hydraulic oil that turns white or grey usually indicates water contamination that needs attention. Source: Reddit r/Hydraulics, Oil Change Intervals.
  • Role of fluid analysis and regular changes A contributor on r/IndustrialMaintenance explains that their plant follows builder recommendations for scheduled hydraulic fluid and filter changes and carries out oil sampling about once per quarter to catch problems early. Source: Reddit r/IndustrialMaintenance, Hydraulic Fluid Discussion.
  • Flush and fill when changing fluid type Advice on r/FluidSeals stresses that when a moulding machine changes hydraulic fluid type, a full drain, flush and refill is required to avoid additive clash and contamination. Source: Reddit r/FluidSeals, Molding Machine Hydraulic Fluid.
  • Hydraulic leaks and housekeeping load A Reddit discussion on hydraulic leaks describes operators emptying drip trays and cleaning oil from floors several times each week, showing how chronic leaks increase labour and safety risk as well as oil consumption. Source: Reddit r/InjectionMolding, Hydraulic Leaks Discussion.
  • Routine cleaning and lubrication intervals Contributors in a general maintenance thread suggest light cleaning and lubrication on a roughly monthly pattern, with full inspection and part replacement roughly every six to twelve months, depending on material and duty. Source: Reddit r/InjectionMolding, General Maintenance.
  • Annual thinking around oil changes A user in r/kubota notes that they usually change oils about once a year regardless of hours, reflecting common OEM guidance that combines hours and calendar time. Source: Reddit r/kubota, 50 Hours or 1 Year.
  • Typical OEM hydraulic service recommendations A thread on a hydraulic chipper explains that the maker recommends hydraulic oil changes about once per year or every 2,000 hours, with filters about every 400 hours, and shorter intervals for very dusty or harsh conditions, which maps well to many mould shops. Source: Reddit r/Hydraulics, Tips for Changing Hydraulic Fluid in Chipper.

5. Plastics, recycling, sustainability and reshoring

  • Reshoring of moulded component production A UK injection moulding feature highlights that highly automated moulding, rapid tooling and precision engineering help support reshoring of plastic components to the UK. Source: Flambeau, UK Injection Moulding and the Reshoring Revival.
  • Plastic available for recycling in the UK Veolia notes that there are about 2.2 million tonnes of plastic available each year for recycling in the UK. Source: Reuters, Veolia Plastic Recycling Investment in Britain.
  • Veolia recycling investment The same report notes that Veolia is investing about £70 million in a new UK plastic recycling facility as part of a plan approaching £1 billion of UK investment by 2030. Source: Reuters, Veolia Plastic Recycling Investment in Britain.
  • Plastic waste exports and lost value A Guardian investigation reports that the UK exports around 600,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year and is missing out on a potential £2 billion recycling industry and about 5,000 jobs because exporting waste is cheaper than recycling it locally. Source: The Guardian, Britain Missing out on Recycling Industry.
  • Closures of recycling facilities The same reporting notes that about 21 plastic recycling and processing facilities have closed across the UK over two years. Source: The Guardian, Britain Missing out on Recycling Industry.
  • Gains from keeping plastic waste onshore A Hybrid Economics study suggests that ending plastic waste exports by 2030 could create about 5,400 jobs and generate nearly £900 million in economic value each year, justifying up to 15 new recycling facilities. Source: The Guardian, UK Can Create Jobs if it Stops Plastic Waste Exports.
  • Private investment and tax benefits The same analysis indicates that this recycling expansion could attract about £800 million of private investment and produce more than £100 million per year in extra tax revenue. Source: The Guardian, UK Can Create Jobs if it Stops Plastic Waste Exports.
  • Plastics as a UK export strength The British Plastics Federation notes that plastics are among the UK’s top ten export categories, reinforcing the importance of resilient moulding and recycling capacity. Source: British Plastics Federation, UK Plastics Industry at a Glance.
  • Ageing moulding machinery in the UK A BPF article on future challenges explains that the UK plastics sector is running an ageing fleet of moulding machines and warns that investing heavily in very old presses can be risky because they often consume far more energy than modern alternatives. Source: BPF, Future Proofing the Plastics Industry.
  • Cooling share of injection moulding cycle time An engineering guide to cycle time explains that cooling phases commonly account for about 60 to 80 percent of total injection moulding cycle time, often around 70 to 80 percent in practice, which directly shapes energy consumption and throughput. Source: TEDESolutions, Injection Molding Cycle Time Calculation.

Use these statistics to support high intent content for injection moulding and plastics processing customers on Sinopec Online:

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7. Injection moulding lubrication FAQ

Why focus on lubricants for injection moulding as a niche?
Injection moulding plants rely on hydraulic oils, slideway lubricants, gear oils and greases for mould tools, robots and ancillary equipment. These fluids influence downtime, scrap, energy use and tool life, which gives lubricants a direct link to profit and makes this a high return niche within industrial lubrication.
How can better hydraulic oil help moulders?
High quality hydraulic oil with strong oxidation stability and demulsibility keeps valves cleaner, resists varnish, supports stable clamp force and reduces risk of sticking valves and pump wear. In busy mould shops that run around the clock this combination can reduce breakdowns and extend service life for pumps and servo valves.
How can moulders use these statistics in content and sales?
Suppliers and moulders can use the figures above to quantify downtime risk, justify condition monitoring, support a move toward synthetic hydraulic oils and greases, and show how energy efficient machinery combined with correct lubrication lowers whole life cost. The statistics also connect injection moulding practice with wider plastics, recycling and reshoring trends in the UK.
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