Global bearing demand expected to reach $66 billion in 2012

Global demand for ball, roller and plain bearings is forecast to climb 6.4 percent annually through 2012 to $66 billion, according to The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.

Market gains will be driven by ongoing economic growth, higher manufacturing output, greater fixed investment activity and rising motor vehicle production, adds the research firm. The aftermarket will be limited to some extent by increases in average bearing life.

However, growing demand for more expensive, better performing units will provide a counterbalance, supported in part by high energy prices, which are making highly efficient bearings a more attractive investment. These and other trends are presented in the firm's study, World Bearings.

Product demand in developing parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa/Mideast and Latin America will outpace sales in the U.S., Western Europe and Japan through 2012, the report adds. China, which recently surpassed the U.S. to become the largest national market for bearings, will account for 48 percent of all additional demand through 2012.

India and Russia will also record strong gains, while increases in bearing demand in Brazil will approximate the global average. Sales growth is expected to be healthy as well in a number of
lower-volume markets, including Thailand and Indonesia.

Bearing demand in the U.S., Western Europe and Japan will rise as well.

Bearings used in non-automotive, non-industrial machinery settings will post the most robust sales gains through 2012, benefiting from the favorable outlook for a number of products included here, the Freedonia Group adds.

For more information, visit www.freedoniagroup.com.