Global Demand for Industrial Fasteners to Exceed $80 Billion in 2014

World demand for industrial fasteners is forecast to expand 8.5 percent per year to $80.5 billion in 2014.  Global motor vehicle output is expected to make a strong recovery from the declines registered during the 2004-2009 period, bolstering associated fastener sales.  World fixed investment levels will continue to rise, and the global durable goods manufacturing environment will improve.  However, fastener sales gains will be restrained in some markets by the use of alternative joining technologies (such as adhesives) or production methods that utilize fewer fasteners.  These and other trends, including market share and product segmentation, are presented in World Industrial Fasteners, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.

The Asia/Pacific region will post the strongest sales increases through 2014, led by healthy 12.8 percent yearly demand gains in China.  Advances will be supported by the country’s ongoing industrialization and growing manufacturing output.  China surpassed Japan to become the world’s largest producer of motor vehicles in 2009, which will provide industrial fastener manufacturers with important new sales opportunities as industry output continues to climb.  China is expected to account for one-quarter of all additional global fastener demand through 2014, and by 2019 the country is forecast to have a fastener market larger than Japan and the US combined. 

Chinese fastener output is forecast to grow even faster than product demand in the nation.  While US-based manufacturers made more fasteners in value terms in 2009, Chinese suppliers will easily surpass them by 2014, and the country will become the world’s leading producer.  Foreign companies will continue to establish manufacturing facilities in China to take advantage of lower production costs, and domestic firms will continue to grow.  Firms in developed areas like the US, Japan and Western Europe will still lead the world in production of more advanced, highly-engineered fasteners.  However, Chinese firms are narrowing the technological gap as their access to capital grows and they gain more manufacturing experience. 

Historically, advances in industrial fastener demand in the developed areas of the US, Western Europe and Japan have been much slower than in the developing world.  However, this will not be the case in all areas though 2014, as fastener sales in many developed countries bounce back following the slump in durables manufacturing (especially of motor vehicles) that hit in 2008 and 2009. 

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.