Asia Pacific Conveyors Industry

Asia Pacific Conveyors Market Analysis

The Asia-Pacific Conveyors Market is expected to register a CAGR of 12.33% during the forecast period.

• According to the NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission), China's investment in the manufacturing industry grew significantly in the first eight months of 2019. From January 2019 to August 2019, the investment increased by 12% year on year, quickening 0.9% points from that in the January-July period. As per the 13th Five-Year Plan of Smart Manufacturing, China aims to establish its automation systems and complete its transformation by 2025. An increasing number of companies are adopting conveyors in the region to reduce production costs and maintain a competitive advantage over western economies. Such instances are expected to positively impact the automation systems such as conveyors in the region.
• Natural resources and their procurement create market significant opportunities for conveyors in the region, which automate the process flow. The vast landscape offers new avenues for the logistics parties to introduce conveyors to ease materials' transition. The airport, post, and parcel, and warehouse segments have boosted the demand for conveyors and sortation systems. Additionally, the manufacturing industry has recorded an increase in demand for an automatic sortation system integrated across the conveyor belt, which reduces the error rate, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the general warehouse logistic module, thus eradicating any associated supervision and loss.
• The region is witnessing significant merger and acquisition activities. For instance, in March 2019, Daifku completed the acquisition of Vega Conveyors and Automation Private Limited, a prominent material-handling vendor based in India. The acquisition is expected to strengthen the company's localization strategy. It is expected to benefit from the increasing demand for automation in the Asia-Pacific region. In December 2019, Habasit, a conveyor and processing belting solutions company, acquired Namil Belt Industrial Co., Ltd. and Korea Belt Services in South Korea. The acquisitions expand Habasit's level of service for consumers in the South Korean market. The company in Korea will continue to offer a broad range of Habasit conveyors, power transmission, and processing belts.
• The outbreak of COVID-19 is expected to influence industrial spending in the region significantly over a certain period, due to the non-operational status of multiple industries deemed non-essential by governments in the region are facing significant losses that are expected to influence their technology spending in automation systems such as conveyors, till the end of 2021. According to the 2020 Mastercard study, e-commerce is on the rise in the Asia Pacific, with 30% of people in Australia, 49% in India, 55% in China, and 34% in Japan planning to make more purchases online. Simultaneously, consumers think less in-store shopping is here to stay with 38% in Australia, 68% in India, 57% in China, and 40% in Japan. Such high activity of the e-commerce sector in the region is expected to increase the demand for efficient logistics and warehousing systems such as conveyors.

Asia Pacific Conveyors Market Trends

Retail is Expected to Hold Significant Share

• The retail industry has transformed significantly in the region with the advent of automation and IT-based solutions. To optimize store space utilization and to stay profitable, retailers are adopting automated warehousing and distribution solutions. The retail sector utilizes the conveyors for distribution and warehousing, sorting, and cross-docking. Growth in shopping through online mode in the Asia-Pacific regions has created a conducive market environment. Retail is one of the significant industries wherein the requirement for conveyors and sortation is essential. It immensely helps online retailers to sort goods and increase good delivery efficiency. Furthermore, retail companies are also adapting to this technology to perform last-mile delivery.
• Furthermore, the increasing usage of online retailing, coupled with changing consumer behavior toward goods purchasing, is likely to impact the adoption of conveyor and sortation systems positively. Additionally, companies already invested in sortation facilities are expected to increase their capacity, owing to the rising demand. The Asia Pacific has emerged as one of the world's largest e-commerce hub. The region has witnessed a rapid growth in retail e-commerce due to the rising middle-class population in China, India, and Indonesia and the rise in popularity of mobile gadgets.
• In April 2019, logistics automation specialist Swisslog, member of the KUKA Group, received an order from IKEA Supply (Malaysia) worth EUR 43 million. Located at Pulai Indah, the Distribution Center run by Inter IKEA would be its largest regional distribution center in the Asia Pacific region. Inter IKEA selected Swisslog Malaysia for its local experience in implementing pallet warehouse solutions for major projects. Swisslog would provide a fully integrated, end-to-end material handling automation solution for Inter IKEA. The project comprises 215,000 pallet locations of clad-rack, 21 warehouse pallet stacker cranes Vectura, the pallet conveyor system ProMove, the electric Monorail System, and the Swisslog software SynQ.
• According to the IBEF, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to USD 200 billion by 2026 from USD 38.5 billion as of 2017. There is a rising demand for international brands and better-quality foreign products among digitally connected Indian shoppers owing to increasing income levels and awareness. In India, the product consumption pattern is changing at a significant rate. The increasing middle-class population is likely to drive the need and demand for sortation systems to cater to the retail sector's rising demand. With increasing work expenses and extra cash, the market for the Indian automated equipment such as conveyors is growing, which is majorly driven by retail, post, and parcel industries.

India is Expected to Witness Significant Growth

• The rise in infrastructure investment by the government and investments from industries and the 'Make in India' initiative is expected to drive the demand for conveyor systems in India. India's government aims to increase the manufacturing sector's share to the gross domestic product (GDP) to 25% by 2022, from 17% in 2018. Thus, manufacturers are likely to incorporate automation systems such as conveyors to achieve this target. Conveyors and sorters have been the traditional material handling equipment over the years in India. Nowadays, a combination of material handling equipment, including automated storage and retrieval systems, conveyors, and AGVs, is being deployed across different industries' supply chains.
• In December 2019, BYD India, a subsidiary of the BYD Group, has expanded into India's material handling equipment business, making it the only Indian company to offer MHE products with lithium-ion phosphate batteries. The company's primary focus is on 3PL (third party logistics), warehousing, and logistics companies. According to BYD India, the Indian warehousing and logistics sector is anticipated to attract nearly USD 10 billion in investment over the coming years. The warehousing industry's process optimization and technological advancement is the key driving force behind the logistics sector's growth.
• Conveyor belts offer significant advantages in the mining industry, including faster loading, easing the load on road networks, savings on diesel costs, a cleaner environment, and a stoppage of possible pilferage. In June 2020, Coal India Ltd announced to invest INR 15,700 crore in conveyor belts that will replace road movement between mines and wagons. The first phase will upgrade infrastructure at 35 mines, each with a capacity of four million tonnes per annum (MTPA). This involved capital expenditure (Capex) of about INR 12,300 crore and a total capacity of 406 MTPA. Phase-2 includes 14 projects in which four subsidiaries will spend INR 3,400 crore for a total capacity of 100.5 MTPA.
• The Indian market is projected to be one of the world's largest aviation markets by 2026, enabling India's airports to be future-ready. Additionally, According to Civil Aviation Minister, India plans to construct 100 new airports with an investment of USD 60 billion in the next 10-15 years to make air travel more affordable. These factors boost the demand for conveyors in the country. The automotive end-user industry in the country, which handles a high volume of materials and has a high throughput ratio, is also expected to opt for conveyor systems.

Asia Pacific Conveyors Industry Overview

The Asia-Pacific Conveyors market is highly competitive, owing to the presence of multiple domestic and international companies. The market appears to be moderately fragmented, with significant players adopting strategies like product innovation and mergers and acquisitions. Some of the market's major players are Daifuku Co. Ltd, BEUMER Group, Murata Machinery, Ltd., etc.

• January 2020 - Daifuku India received the SCALE 2019 Award for the best company in the 'Intra-Logistics Automation' category presented by the Confederation of Indian Industries. SCALE (Supply Chain & Logistics Excellence) Award is an initiative by CII's Institute of Logistics to acknowledge companies' innovative ideas and excellence in the supply chain and material handling domain.
• October 2019 - BEUMER Group has been chosen by Bengaluru International Airport in India to supply its latest second terminal with efficient and flexible baggage handling systems that support increased capacity.

Asia Pacific Conveyors Market Leaders