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Machine production set to break records in 2011

20 October, 2011

Global production of machinery will this year beat its previous record, set in 2008, with an aggregate growth of 10.2%, predicts the market analyst, IMS Research. It expects this trend continue through to 2014.

The machine sector was one of the hardest hit by the economic downturn, and because of the long-lead nature of the business, it was also one of the last to suffer.

“The latest indicators are that growth is slowing slightly from the highs seen last year – hardly surprising when you consider the magnitude of the bounce-back seen in 2010 – but there still appears to be solid growth on last year,” reports IMS analyst, Andrew Robertson. “However, when output is considered on a regional basis, the contrast is striking.”

Europe has suffered the most. The 2009 downturn was more severe in this region than elsewhere, and recovery has been more varied. Although Germany’s upturn has been fairly strong, IMS does not expect that machinery production in Europe will reach pre-recession levels until after 2012.

Output in Asia-Pacific declined in 2009, but not by as much as in Europe and the Americas. And while Japan’s output plunged in 2009, China and India continued to grow. But, helped by substantial growth in Japan in 2010, the Asia-Pacific region exceeded its 2008 levels last year, and looks set to continue this strong performance.

In the Americas, the 2009 decline was more severe, and the subsequent recovery more gradual. But this recovery has been so strong that IMS predicts that 2011 will be a record year for machinery production in the region.




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