1 October 2009, Cleveland - Global demand for geosynthetics
is projected to increase 5.3 percent annually to 4.7 billion square meters in
2013. Countries such as China, India and
Russia that are building large-scale infrastructure developments and face
evolving environmental protection regulations and building construction codes
are expected to post the strongest gains through the forecast period.
Geogrids are forecast to achieve the fastest
gains through 2013; however, sales of geogrids will only account for eleven
percent of total global geosynthetics sales.
While growth in geosynthetics demand is expected to be substantial in
nearly every region, the underlying reasons for that growth can vary
widely. These and other trends,
including market share and product segmentation, are presented in World
Geosynthetics, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based
industry research company.
The Asia/Pacific region accounted for nearly 45 percent of
global geosynthetics sales in 2008.
Advances in this market are primarily driven by China, which itself
accounted for over three-quarters of regional sales in 2008. China is also projected to account for nearly
60 percent of new global demand for geosynthetics generated between 2008 and
2013. China’s dominance is primarily due
to its amount of available land, its ongoing development of large-scale
infrastructure projects, and its need for erosion control. Similarly, India is expected to post
double-digit annual growth through the forecast period, albeit from a much
smaller base. India’s gains are driven
by its ongoing development of transportation infrastructure, installation of
greater protection against erosion and mud slides during its monsoon seasons,
and establishment of modern landfills.
In many of the least developed countries, however, growth for
geosynthetics will be more limited, due to lack of adequate funding, a lack of
regulations that require their use and the presence of lower-cost alternatives
such as natural fibre geotextiles and rock.
North America was the second largest regional market in
2008, accounting for nearly a quarter of global sales. Advances in the US market are expected to be
aided in the near term by government spending initiatives on roads, bridges and
other public works projects that have been included as part of an economic
stimulus package. Canada’s geosynthetics
market is much smaller than that of the US, but benefits from a comparable
level of development, regulation and ability to fund the upfront costs of
geosynthetics. Western Europe and Japan are fairly comparable to the US in
terms of the level of maturity of their respective geosynthetics markets, as
well as the type of regulatory environment.
The Freedonia Group is a leading international business
research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry
research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook
and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and
demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities,
competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles.
www.freedoniagroup.com
.gif)