ARC tips emerging economies to revive global drives market

Dedham, Massachusetts - Global demand for low power AC drives market will stay in the doldrums for the next couple of years before resuming moderate growth as investment resumes in infrastructure and manufacturing industries, ARC Advisory Group forecasts.

According to an ARC study, market in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Eastern Europe will spring the market back to life. Increasing consumer demand and a growing middle class in these regions will drive more investments in new infrastructures and greater need for producing and saving energy, it suggests.

The line from report writer ARC senior analyst Himanshu Shah is that manufacturers, particularly in such regions, will quite soon be raising productivity, lowering product and plant operating costs  expenses in order to compete in the global market. They will therefore, he argues, start  investing much more in low power AC drives to achieve energy saving and productivity gains via better speed control.

"Globalisation is driving the use of advanced automation and energy saving equipment worldwide," Shah commented in an ARC release. "This will directly result in an increased use of low power AC drives which are widely employed across process, discrete, and infrastructure industries such as building automation, chemicals, oil & gas, food & beverage, textiles, utilities, water & wastewater, and metals."