PERSPECTIVE: World Fastener Demand Projected to Reach $46.4 Billion by 2006

John Wolz

Worldwide demand for fasteners will increase 5% annually through 2006 to US$46.4 billion, according to World Fasteners, a study by the Freedonia Group Inc.\
�The major factor fueling market gains will be ongoing economic expansion within the developing nations of Asia and Latin America. As industrialization efforts continue in these countries, fastener demand will rise with increasing construction activity and manufacturing output, particularly production of motor vehicles and other equipment,� according to World Fasteners.
World fastener demand was US$28.8 billion in 1996 and $36.3 billion in 2001.
Freedonia predicted China, which accounted for 9% of global demand in 2001, will surpass Japan to become the world�s second-largest fastener market behind the U.S. by 2006.
While world demand will grow at 5% and the U.S. 4%, fastener demand will jump at a 9.9% rate in China, 7% in other Asia/Pacific nations, 6.2% in Latin America, 5.6% in Africa and the Mideast, 5.2% in Eastern Europe. Lower on the annual growth rate scales will be Canada and Mexico at 4.3%, Western Europe 3.8% and Japan 3.0%.
�Prospects for growth are also favorable in Eastern Europe as these nations continue their transformation to market economies and manufacturing and fixed investment activity climb.�
North American, European and Japanese market advances �will be more subdued,� Freedonia predicted. �U.S. fastener demand will slow as manufacturing output and construction spending moderate through 2006.
�However, sales of fasteners in Western Europe will accelerate as economic fundamentals improve, and demand in Japan will benefit from recovery in fixed investment and manufacturing activity.
Freedonia reports electrical and electronic equipment is expected to be the fastest-growing fastener market through 2006. �Fastener demand in industrial machinery applications will also be healthy, stimulated by ongoing industrialization efforts in developing parts of the world. Market gains will be less robust for automotive applications, which will be negatively impacted by increased use of competitive joining technologies like adhesives and an ongoing trend toward modular assembly, reducing the need for fasteners.�
Worldwide demand for aerospace fasteners is projected to rise the fastest. �Gains will be stimulated by favorable market conditions for military procurement in many areas and by growing use of these products in other applications where fastener performance is critical. Standard nonthreaded fastener sales growth is also expected to be above average, with value gains spurred by a shift in the product mix toward more expensive, high-performance items.
Editor�s Note: The 344-page study is available for $4,900 from Cleveland, OH-based Freedonia. Tel: 440 684-9600 Fax 440 646-0484 E-mail: pr@freedoniagroup.com Web: freedoniagroup.com �2002 FastenerNews.com