Worldwide demand for plastic pipe is forecast to increase more than 4% a year through 2007, reaching 6.3 billion meters. Gains will continue to outpace growth for overall pipe demand, as plastic pipe reaches 47% of the total, according to World Plastic Pipe, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.
China, which already has one of the largest national markets, will record some of the strongest increases, with plastic pipe demand rising more than 8% annually through 2007. The pace of growth is expected to be less robust in the developed nations of the United States, Japan and Western Europe.