GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on the Bearings markets. The global Bearings market is forecast to reach US$101 billion by 2018, driven by recovery in industrial machinery, automotive, and aerospace industries as well as favorable capital investment scenario.
Demand for bearings is dynamic, and closely linked to global GDP trends, given their widespread use in capital goods and engineering industries. Much of the development on the technology front in the bearings industry concerns only usage of newer materials, increasing efficiency of bearings, and manufacturing bearings specific to certain applications. Steel, for long, has been playing a vital role in the manufacture of bearings. Owing to its strength and durability, steel forms the major component used in the manufacture of bearings. However, with the advent of technology and the demand for better performing materials, such as silicon nitride ceramics, steel gradually has taken a backseat in the manufacture of bearings.
The bearings industry waded through troubled waters during 2008 worldwide economic crisis. Demand for bearings was severely impacted in value as well as volume terms as major end-use markets such as automotive and industrial machinery suffered massive downslides during the economic recession. Despite managing to post cautious recovery in 2010 and in early 2011, emergence of the sovereign debt crisis that engulfed the European countries, coupled with the sluggish pace of recovery in the US and contraction in the Japanese economy, restrained the growth prospects of the bearing industry in the year 2012. The trickle-down effect of the slowdown in major advanced economies was also felt in emerging and developing nations such as China and India.
Going forwards, although financial conditions continue to remain fragile, a gradual strengthening of the global economic activity is expected in sync with the easing of the financial crunch, which in other words would push up the demand for bearings in the long term. However, in the short term, growth in the bearings market is expected to remain subdued given the current financial pressure endured by several OEMs and end-users worldwide. The growth prospects of the economy, and therefore, the bearings industry, relies heavily on the resolution of the US fiscal cliff and the containment of the sovereign debt crisis within the Eurozone.
Improvement in balance sheets of non-financial corporate businesses and steady deleveraging by households and banks is expected to aid the smooth flow of capital, and gradually strengthen the consumption of durables. Industrial production and capital investment is anticipated to recover in the next few years to meet the resurgence in demand, thereby reinvigorating demand for roller bearings and ball bearings. Besides, growth would be influenced by lower prices of bearings, which in turn are a result of moderation in raw material prices, and intensifying global competition.
Key end use sectors, including industrial machinery and automotive, would continue to drive the bearings market. The two segments account for a lion’s share of the global bearings market. Though demand for bearings used in the aerospace and allied sectors would also record growth, encroaching upon the market share of motor vehicle and machinery sectors, the latter two sectors would continue to have the largest share of the bearings market. All the three end-use sectors, namely industrial, automotive, and aerospace would primarily be driven by the increased manufacture of rail equipment, electronic devices, aircraft, and motorcycles in the developing regions.
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