Global demand for industrial fasteners is projected to increase 4.8 percent annually to $66 billion in 2012. Fastener demand will be driven by increases in world economic output, fixed investment activity, manufacturing production, and aerospace equipment and motor vehicle output. However, the use of new materials and production methods that reduce the number of fasteners required in motor vehicles and some aircraft will limit future market gains. 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.

Market advances in the worlds emergent economies will considerably outpace demand gains in the worlds more advanced, mature ones. Industrial fastener demand growth in Asia, the Africa/Mideast region, Eastern Europe and Latin America will exceed growth in the US, Western Europe and Japan. China will register the largest gains of any national market as the country continues its development as an economic power and as its manufacturing and fixed investment activity continue to climb. In 2008, China will surpass Japan to become the second largest fastener market in the world, after the US.

Fastener demand in the US, Western Europe and Japan will still grow considerably. Sales growth will be spurred by generally favorable economic conditions, continued fixed investment growth and higher income levels. These areas will remain the most intensive users of industrial fastening products, reflecting the advanced industrial and technological base of their economies.

Demand growth for aerospace-grade fasteners exceeded that for standard fasteners between 2002 and 2007. Robust activity in the commercial and military aircraft industries during this period contributed greatly to this trend. As demand for high-integrity fasteners levels off, standard fasteners will again emerge as the fastest growing product group, in line with historical norms. The motor vehicle industry will remain the largest consuming sector for industrial fasteners, accounting for about onethird of total fastener demand through 2012. However, electrical and electronic equipment will be the fastest growing market. Demand for fasteners used in industrial machinery and fabricated metal products will also increase at above-average rates.