High performance alloys market driven by strong industrial production in developing countries

The high performance alloy market has been forecast to hit a market value of 12.7 million metric tons by 2018, driven primarily by strong industrial production in developing countries. Healthy automotive and aerospace industries in these countries and the accompanying increases in build rates for automobiles and aircrafts also bode well for the future of this market.

A high-performance alloy is an alloy that exhibits excellent mechanical strength and resistance to creep (tendency for solids to slowly move or deform under stress) at high temperatures; good surface stability; and corrosion and oxidation resistance. High-performance alloys typically have a matrix with an austenitic face-centred cubic crystal structure.

A high-performance alloy's base alloying element is usually nickel, cobalt, or nickel-iron. High-performance alloy development has relied heavily on both chemical and process innovations and has been driven primarily by the aerospace and power industries. Typical applications are in the aerospace, industrial gas turbine and marine turbine industry, e.g. for turbine blades for hot sections of jet engines, and bi-metallic engine valves for use in diesel and automotive applications.

Demand for high performance alloys is forecast to remain stable in the upcoming years based on its usage in a broad gamut of applications ranging from engineering structures, heavy equipments to components for aircrafts, motor vehicles and consumer electronics.

The US continues to remain the largest region within the high performance alloys market, while Asia-Pacific looks set to represent the fastest growing region through to 2018.

The outlook for Europe remains overshadowed by the economic drag exerted by the deleveraging process underway in the region's private, public and financial sector. Also, the anti-crisis austerity and spending cuts as a measure to tame towering public debts and reduce the gross debt-to-GDP ratio is impacting capital expenditure in manufacturing industries in debt affected economies by limiting borrowing and reducing investments in capital goods.

For more information on the high performance alloys market, see the latest research: High Performance Alloys Market

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