gasket

Global demand for gaskets and seals is forecast to increase more than five percent annually through 2009 and exceed $35 billion. The greatest growth in output will occur in the industrializing countries of Asia/Pacific, Latin America, Africa/Mideast and Eastern Europe, where increases in motor vehicle and durable goods manufacturing will help provide ready markets for gaskets and seals. In addition, growing investment by multinationals will enable manufacturers in developing nations to upgrade their technical capabilities and compete internationally in higher-end market segments. The most promising opportunities are those emerging in Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region, where rapid industrialization and improved standards of living will stimulate demand for gaskets and seals. China will record some of the strongest increases, with demand rising nearly ten percent annually through 2009. Product demand in Western Europe will climb as economic fundamentals improve in most nations, and the Japanese gasket and seal market will benefit from growth in fixed investment and manufacturing activity following an extended period of sluggishness. Hit hard by the early 2000s recession, gasket and seal demand in the US is expected to rise along with economic output and will outpace market gains in most other industrialized countries.