After declining for two consecutive years, revenues for industrial geared products are forecast to grow 4.7 percent in 2014 to $13,218.2 million according to the latest IHS study on the market for gearboxes and geared motors. However, this growth would leave the market about 0.7 percent below its previous peak level reached in 2011. IHS defines the market for industrial geared products to include gearboxes and geared motors used in stationary applications. As mentioned above, market revenues reached a record high in 2011, following two years of growth in excess of 15 percent. In 2012, the geared products market suffered as a result of the poor economic situation in the Eurozone and the fallout from overproduction in China, in large part causing global market revenues to decline 5.0 percent. Conversely, the American market provided a bright spot for geared products in 2012, growing 7.0 percent.
The dismal performance of the global geared products market continued in 2013, with revenues declining for a second consecutive year, though the rate of decline slowed to only 0.1 percent. Sales were constrained by limited demand in the cement and aggregates and mining sectors, which combined to account for 21 percent of market revenues in 2013.
The outlook for 2014 is more optimistic, as growth is forecast to accelerate in global machinery production and capital expenditure. The recovery is projected to occur faster in the discrete sectors, while growth in the process sectors is likely to remain subdued in 2014.
The Asia-Pacific market is the largest regional market for geared products and is also forecast to lead the other regions in terms of growth in the near term, as illustrated in the figure below. However, the slowdown of the Chinese economy has lowered growth rates significantly from the double-digit rates seen in the Asia-Pacific market prior to 2012. Market revenues in Asia Pacific are expected to increase 5.2 percent in 2014.
