Abstract
Market Overview
Focus on Energy Efficiency Drives Market Growth
High energy prices along with a growing awareness of the environmental impact
of energy consumption are set to emerge as major drivers for the growth of the
electric drives market in western Europe. In helping companies optimise their
energy consumption, Governments in the Netherlands and Italy have, or are
expected to, implement energy savings programmes, wherein companies are likely
to receive financial incentives for reducing energy consumption. This is
likely to heighten the focus on improving plant efficiency and performance,
forcing European industries to review their energy policies as well as the use
of energy-efficient devices. Considering that electric drives represent a key
area of power usage and potential saving, this is anticipated to have a
significant impact on the sales of electric drives in new as well as retrofit
applications over the forecast period.
The food and beverages as well as the chemicals and pharmaceuticals end-user
sectors are expected to show strong growth over the forecast period due to
increased automation in processes and rising consumer preference for
timesaving products. "Also, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning
(HVAC) and construction sectors are expected to grow significantly over the
forecast period due to investments in new residences and offices as well as in
the modernisation of old building automation," notes the analyst of this
research service. "On the other hand, the pulp, paper and printing sector is
likely to see a slight decrease in revenues owing to the closure of paper
mills or their relocation to cheaper regions."
Spanish Electric Drives Market Set for Strong Growth
With respect to individual regional markets, the German electric drives market
is expected to remain the largest in western Europe throughout the forecast
period. However, considering the relatively late industrialisation of the
Spanish industrial sector as well as the ongoing modernisation initiatives and
infrastructure investments to ensure compliance with European Union
regulations, the Spanish electric drives market is expected to show the
fastest growth between 2005 and 2012. Also, the markets for electric drives in
Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Scandinavia are expected to show
moderate growth over the forecast period, reflecting the high level of
industrialisation and automation in these regions and the relocation of
companies due to high production costs.
Overall, the western European market for electric drives is a mature one,
particularly in the AC and DC standard electric drives field. "Considering the
increasing competition, limited possibility to significantly differentiate
between electric drives and relocation of production plants to regions
offering cost advantages, large manufacturers of electric drives will do well
to focus on strengthening their position in the global markets," says the
analyst." For smaller companies, growth opportunities lie primarily in
specialising in higher-quality niche and premium products or in focusing on
specific end-user sectors."
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