Wholesalers, manufacturers and research firms say the upward trend of 2000 will continue this year for the plumbing industry.
No decline here. Cautious optimism prevails that plumbing product sales will continue to grow in 2001, although the increases will be in single-digit percentages. Shipments of plumbing fixtures are projected to rise to $3.94 billion, about 4% above $3.79 billion in 1999, according to the Freedonia Group, an industrial market research firm.
Other published forecasts based on U.S. Commerce Department figures project that plumbing fixture shipments will rise 2.2% to $3.78 billion from $3.7 billion in 2000.