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Global sales of industrial fasteners are expected to climb 5.2 percent per year to USD82.9 billion in 2016, accelerating from the 2006-2011 rate of expansion. The economies of many countries around the world will continue to recover from the global recession of 2009, spurring growth in durable goods output, which largely determines worldwide fastener sales. In 2011, motor vehicle original equipment manufacturing was the largest market for industrial fasteners, and this market will post the largest gains through 2016 in value terms. Also, accelerations in manufacturing output and fixed investment spending will lead to increased demand for fasteners used in machinery. However, intensifying competition from alternative joining technologies (such as adhesives) will restrain fastener sales increases in some market segments.

These and other trends 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 record the fastest demand gains from 2011 to 2016, averaging 7.4 percent per year. This expansion will be driven primarily by the strong Chinese market, which will continue to advance at a rapid pace despite moderating from the 2006-2011 rate. Rising demand in the smaller Indian market will complement these gains, as sales in this country will climb at the most rapid pace worldwide through 2016. Ongoing growth in the durable goods manufacturing sectors in these nations, along with the continuing need for new and improved components of infrastructure, will stimulate large gains in industrial fastener demand. Sales of fasteners in other developing areas of the world will generally advance at a healthy pace.

Increases in industrial fastener demand in the world’s highly developed economies -- namely, the US, Western Europe, and Japan -- were much slower than in industrializing countries between 2006 and 2011, and sales gains in most developed nations will continue to be subpar through 2016. Since the durable goods manufacturing sectors in these areas are mature, there will be fewer growth opportunities for fastener suppliers. However, recoveries in motor vehicle production and construction expenditures following a period of decline will result in faster fastener market advances going forward.