Material handling products to enjoy 4% annual growth
Global demand for material handling products is to enjoy a 4 percent rise year-on-year until 2016, according to a new report by the Freedonia Group.
The annual growth projection for the materials handling industry will see profits of $123.6 billion, according to the World Material Handling Products industry study. According to findings, suppliers of automated equipment such as guided vehicles and storage and retrieval systems will see the strongest gains, as they enable companies to reduce labour costs, particularly in developed nations.
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The industry study looks into historical demand data (2001, 2006 and 2011) plus forecasts for 2016 and 2021 by product, market and world region for 29 countries. The report also considers market environment factors and company market share, profiling 43 industry competitors from across the world.
Regional growth rates
Data suggests that the Asia/Pacific region will enjoy the fastest growth rate of any regional market through 2016, advancing by 6.1 percent per year (nearly half of global demand increases in value terms). Sales of material handling equipment will also benefit from recovery in a number of large, developed markets, which are forecast to bounce back from poor performances in 2011. Of the national markets, India and China will see the fastest gains, largely due to a rising manufacturing output. The United States are expected to remain the dominant consumer (26 percent of the market), bolstered by improved manufacturing conditions. Japan and Germany, both of which posses sizeable chunks of the materials handling market, will make stronger gains through 2016, after slow growth in recent years.
