U.S. shipments of plumbing products will rise nearly 3% per year through 2004 to $9.2 billion, according to a new study from the Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm. Shipments of plumbing fittings will grow 2.4% per year to $4.7 billion in 2004, while fixture shipments will increase by 3.5% to nearly $4.5 billion.
Exports of plumbing fixtures will increase as a result of improving economic growth in Latin America and Asia, but imports will rise more rapidly, aided by outsourcing of production from U.S. manufacturers.