US Circuit Breakers and Fuses Demand to Reach $3.8

The US market for circuit breakers and fuses is forecast to reach $3.8 billion in 2013, expanding at a 2.0 percent yearly rate.  Advances will be supported by a strong recovery in residential building construction expenditures following the slump in new home construction experienced in 2007 and 2008.  Continued, though moderating, growth in utilities construction expenditures will also bolster demand.  After adjusting for inflation, shipments of durable goods will also increase, supporting gains in circuit protection device consumption.  In particular, the expected recovery in motor vehicle production and the continued, albeit decelerating, growth in aerospace equipment shipments will benefit suppliers of circuit breakers.  However, advances will not be as strong as those recorded during the 2003-2008 period when price increases served to bolster market growth in current dollar terms. These and other trends, including market share and product segmentation, are presented in Circuit Breakers & Fuses, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

The residential construction market will post the strongest gains of any major market through 2013, averaging 6.7 percent per year to $380 million.  This will be a considerable reversal from the declines posted during the 2003-2008 period, which were due to residential building construction expenditures dropping sharply in 2007 and 2008.  Electric power will remain the largest market for circuit breakers and fuses, advancing 2.2 percent annually to $1.3 billion in 2013.  Gains in this market will not be as strong as those posted during the 2003-2008 period, when electric utilities construction expenditures averaged double-digit yearly growth as a result of efforts to upgrade the US electrical grid and adopt alternative technologies such as wind and solar power.

The fastest growing product segment through 2013 will be high-power fuses, reaching $580 million on annual gains of 3.0 percent.  Advances will be supported by their intense use in electric utilities construction, as well as in wind farm step-up transformers.  However, demand for these products will be restrained to some degree by expected real declines in nonresidential building construction expenditures.  Molded case circuit breakers will post the strongest increases in the circuit breaker market, reaching $1.7 billion in 2013 on 2.4 percent yearly growth.  Sales increases will be supported by a recovery in residential building construction expenditures, continued (though moderating) growth in military and aerospace applications, and the increasing use of these products in place of fuses in a number of applications.

The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities, competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles.