Skip to main content

World asphalt demand to grow 3.6% a year until 2017

World demand for asphalt will grow by 3.6% annually until 2017, according to Cleveland market research company The Freedonia Group. This follows a decline in demand between 2007 and 2012 in North America and Western Europe, during the global economic crisis. “Gains will be driven by especially strong growth in consumption in China and other developing countries as they work to improve their transportation infrastructures,” said Freedonia analyst Mariel Behnke.
March 4, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
World demand for asphalt will grow by 3.6% annually until 2017, according to Cleveland market research company The 2821 Freedonia Group. This follows a decline in demand between 2007 and 2012 in North America and Western Europe, during the global economic crisis.

“Gains will be driven by especially strong growth in consumption in China and other developing countries as they work to improve their transportation infrastructures,” said Freedonia analyst Mariel Behnke.

Asphalt demand in North America declined by 5.8% a year between 2007 and 2012. From 2012 to 2017, Freedonia forecasts annual growth of 3.6%. Asia-Pacific continued to grow between 2012 and 2017, with a 5.8% annual growth, a rate which is forecast to slow to 4.7% up to 2017.

Maintenance of North America’s massive regional network of roads and highways will drive demand in that region. And in many parts of Western Europe there is a huge backlog of maintenance work to tackle.

The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America as the world’s largest market for asphalt, driven mainly by China and India, according to Freedonia’s report ‘World Asphalt’ which was published as Conexpo got underway. China uses over 20% of the world’s asphalt, and is set to become the world’s biggest asphalt user by 17%, a position currently occupied by the US.

Though China is still building roads now, growth will slow as its national infrastructure programmes come to an end and the country moves to smaller road construction jobs and maintenance of its existing networks. Demand in India and other developing Asian countries will grow, predicted Freedonia, as they push on with large public works projects.
%$Linker: 2 Asset <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 2 43686 0 oLinkExternal www.freedoniagroup.com Visit Freedonia Group Website false /EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=43686 false false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Senior highway policymakers invited to the 1st IRF Asia Regional Congress
    October 3, 2014
    Senior highway policymakers across Asia have been invited by Indonesian Minister of Public Works H.E. Djoko Kirmanto to send delegates to the “1st IRF Asia Regional Congress & Exhibition” which take place in Bali from November 17 to 19, 2014. Three plenary sessions will be reserved for contributions from country delegations, say the organisers. These are: The Asian Highway Network: an Agenda for Shared Regional Prosperity; The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety: and An Asia Progress Report. IRF will also
  • Hi-viz hijinks make a flockery of saftey clothing
    September 16, 2015
    Fashionable they aren’t, but the wearing of high-visibility clothing is increasingly either recommended by businesses or made mandatory by law, especially for construction workers on every kind of site. But has the use of “hi-vis” clothing, especially the vest, gone too far? In Britain, the wearing of the hi-viz clothing has taken off - literally, according to a BBC television news report that shows a flock of chickens wearing the fluorescent coloured vest.
  • Caterpillar bullish despite tough trading conditions
    January 6, 2017
    Caterpillar is performing well despite difficult market conditions in Europe, according to chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. The German market is a core operation for the firm. “This is an important market for us. Germany is a competitive market where customers have high expectations,” he said.“At the moment we’ve got a challenging market around the world for our customers and dealers. Businesses face challenges, particularly here in Europe. Emerging nations are seeing faster growth but they also have chall
  • Caterpillar bullish despite tough trading conditions
    April 16, 2013
    Caterpillar is performing well despite difficult market conditions in Europe, according to chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. The German market is a core operation for the firm. “This is an important market for us. Germany is a competitive market where customers have high expectations,” he said.“At the moment we’ve got a challenging market around the world for our customers and dealers. Businesses face challenges, particularly here in Europe. Emerging nations are seeing faster growth but they also have chall