Machine production set to rebound

IMS Research's report indicates machinery production revenues are expected to rebound in 2011 and continue to grow through 2014.

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This is set to be a record year for worldwide machinery production, recording aggregate 10.2 percentage growth, according to IMS Research. The report titled, “Machine Production Yearbook – 2011” further points to the fact that this trend is expected to continue through the forecast period to 2014.

The machine sector was amongst the hardest hit by the economic downturn, and given the long-lead nature of the business – it was also one of the last to suffer. However, according to the latest report from IMS Research, worldwide production of machinery is set to eclipse its previous record, set back in 2008.

“The latest indicators are that growth is slowing slightly from the highs seen last year – hardly surprising when you consider the magnitude of the bounce back seen in 2010 – but there still appears to be solid growth on last year. This should of course be encouraging news, however, when output is considered on a regional basis, the contrast is striking,” says Andrew Robertson, Market Analyst, IMS Research.

Output from Asia-Pacific declined in 2009, but not to the extent as in Europe and the Americas; and whilst Japan’s output plunged in 2009, China and India continued to see growth. But helped by tremendous growth in Japan in 2010, Asia Pacific comfortably surpassed its 2008 levels last year, and looks set to continue its strong performance.

In the Americas, where machinery output is still dominated by North America, the decline in 2009 was more severe, and the subsequent recovery more gradual. That said, the recovery has been such that 2011 is predicted to be a record year for machinery production.

Meanwhile, the 2009 downturn in Europe was more severe than in the other two regions, and recovery has been more varied. Although Germany’s upturn has been fairly strong, the plight of others such as Spain, Greece and Portugal has been widely documented. As such, IMS Research does not anticipate that machinery production in Europe will surpass the pre-recession level until after next year.

The figure below illustrates the varying performance of the three nations which have traditionally dominated the machinery sector. Whereas machinery production in Germany and the US recovers to set record-breaking years relatively quickly after the downturn, the outlook in Japan is in stark contrast.

The Japanese industry plummeted in 2009, and at present the outlook is still uncertain. As such, even with growth in 2010 of almost 40 percent, production is still not expected to recover to pre-recession levels before 2015.

“Although no industry is immune from the effects of the current economic uncertainty, machinery output, for the time being at least, appears to be faring better than the markets and economy in general. Whether it will continue to do so is yet to be seen,” Robertson adds.

www.imsresearch.com 

IMS Research

- Edited by Chris Vavra, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com