The global site of the UK's leading magazine for automation, motion engineering and power transmission
19 March, 2024

LinkedIn
Twitter
Twitter link

Global sales of PLCs slipped by 2.1% in 2013

13 August, 2014

Revenues from the global market for PLCs slipped by by 2.1% in 2013, according to a new report from the market analyst, IHS. It attributes the slide, in part, to China delaying many investments as its leaders have set financial stability as the country's most important objective, and are applying only moderate stimulus.

Another factor is that China, as an export-focused market, has faced weakening demand from its leading trading partners, such as Europe. The Chinese PLC market had therefore faced both domestic and foreign pressures.

As the most mature regional market for PLCs, Europe is the largest in terms of revenue. However, it is dragging itself out of recession very slowly, according to IHS. With tight fiscal policies, tight credit conditions in several countries, excess industrial capacity, and relatively weak export demand, there are few signs of a strong upturn in the near future. The lack of strong domestic demand resulted in the European PLC market declining slightly last year.

By contrast, the US market for PLCs is growing strongly. The housing market is continuing to recover, consumer spending is rising, export markets are improving, and the pace of capital spending is increasing.

The Japanese PLC market also had a good year in 2013. The government has been pushing strong economic incentive plans since 2012 by applying fiscal stimuli, engaging in monetary easing and implementing structural reforms. But when converted into US dollar terms, the Japanese market shrank because the Yen depreciated by more than 10% compared to the dollar.

In terms of end-user sectors, IHS reports that the fastest-growing markets for PLCs are the oil and gas, and food and beverage, industries.




Magazine
  • To view a digital copy of the latest issue of Drives & Controls, click here.

    To visit the digital library of past issues, click here

    To subscribe to the magazine, click here

     

Poll

"Do you think that robots create or destroy jobs?"

Newsletter
Newsletter

Events

Most Read Articles