4 January 2007 – Worldwide demand for plastic pipes is accelerating as prospects improve in developed countries, coupled with continuing strong growth in developing countries, particularly China.
US-based Freedonia Group forecasts plastic pipe demand to increase by 4.4% annually to reach 7.7 billion metres in 2010. This compares with a global growth rate of 2.7% in the 2000-2005 period.
Demand in China will see the fastest rise, increasing from 680 million metres in 2005 to a projected 1.1 billion metres in 2010, an annual increase of 10.5%.
But developed countries will account for the largest part of the global market. The North American region is set to see 2.3 billion metres of demand in 2010, a rise of 2.9% annually from 2005.
Western Europe experienced a small market contraction in the 2000-2005 period, but Freedonia expects it to see 2.8% annual increase to 1.4 billion metres in 2010.
Developing countries are benefiting from economic growth, leading to projects in residential construction, telecoms networks and water treatment systems. Freedonia also highlighted the large number of expansion projects in natural gas distribution networks. The latter will boost HDPE pipe applications, it said.
