Cleveland, Ohio -- Global demand for insulation is predicted to reach 23 000 million square metres by 2014, a US-based industry research group have said.
The Freedonia Group's World Insulation study says that demand will increase 5 percent per year until that date, a substantial improvement over the 2004-2009 rate.
Sales of insulation materials are expected to rebound after steep declines in 2008 and 2009, due to the recession, the report noted.
Residential building construction spending will be the primary driver of growth, according to the Cleveland, Ohio-based firm, and insulation sales for residential use in North America will rise at a double-digit pace.
Sales in Western Europe are expected to expand moderately, while ongoing rural-to-urban migration in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas should stimulate housing construction and therefore insulation use.
Additionally, the insulation market in North America will register the fastest growth in the years leading up to 2014, the research group said, with overall insulation consumption expected to rise more than 7 percent per year.
Several Asian countries are predicted to see rapid growth, including India, China and Indonesia. China alone is expected to account for 29 percent of all new global insulation demand between 2009 and 2014. LMH
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