Building Up Housing Abroad

While North American and European markets have suffered in the current economic crisis, the future looks bright for the composites industry in Asia and the rest of the world in the next decade and beyond according to Norman Timmins, director of consulting for Lucintel.

In China especially, the impact of the recession has been muted and a latent demand for housing and infrastructure has created double-digit growth in construction and an increased demand for all types of consumer goods.  While a lack of awareness of the availability and advantages of composite products is a challenge in that market, massive increases in demand will force more acceptance, Timmins said.  Specific products that are seeing increased demand include cooling towers, bathtubs, pools, FRP panels, bridge decks, grating, doors, windows, grating and rebar.

Other potential markets include Brazil, Russia and India that all have a built-up need for housing and energy efficient materials.   A rise in urbanization and more government housing create more demand in these areas.  Sadly, natural disasters such as floods and earthquake have created a need for prefabricated construction in undeveloped areas, but more happily, international showcase events such as the Olympics and expos create an urgent need for construction and cost efficiency.

Forecasters see a future of robust growth in international markets of 7 percent by 2015, Timmins said, while domestic recovery in North America will be gradual.  Demand for construction will remain low while raw material prices will increase but there will be less ability to pass those costs on to the financially-pinched consumer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 4:33 pm and is filed under General Interest, Infrastructure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.