This Thomas Index Report is sponsored by Johnson Brothers Roll Forming Company, a leader in the roll forming industry since 1948.
Hello again. This week we’re going to take a look at sourcing for Square & Rectangular Tubing by users of the Thomasnet.com platform. Our data shows that over the past 12 weeks, sourcing activity for this category is up 83 percent over its historical average.
Our firmographic buyer data shows that three of the top industries driving this trend are Industrial Supplies Manufacturing, Energy & Utilities, and Aerospace & Defense.
After a year of record growth in 2017, the Aerospace & Defense industry is having another strong year, with the current geopolitical climate putting an increased emphasis on areas such as missile defense, and with the Trump administration’s expanded defense budget. Metal tubing is used extensively in aerospace manufacturing, with materials ranging from aluminum and stainless steel to titanium, so it’s no surprise that a good percentage of the sourcing trend for tubing is driven by this industry.
As the Oil and Gas industry continues to gain traction, and as renewable energies push forward, we expect demand from the energy and utilities sector to continue to rise. Finally, as metal tubing is also widely used in industries ranging from automobile manufacturing to construction, to the medical devices industry and beyond, we expect demand for tubing to remain strong as a healthy economy continues to drive those sectors.
In related categories, sourcing activity for Steel Tubing, Aluminum Tubing, and Drawn Over Mandrel Tubing are all up over 30 percent month-over-month on our platform.
Moving on from Tubing, here’s a look at the top ten industrial product and service categories being sourced on the Thomasnet.com platform over the past four weeks:
- Injection Molded Plastics
- CNC Machining
- Corrugated Boxes
- Steel
- Tube Fabrication & Bending Services
- Metal Fabrication
- Metal Stampings
- Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)
- Plastic Bottles
- Non-Destructive Testing Services
The best way to get this weekly Thomas Index Report is to sign up for our daily Thomas Industry Update by visiting Thomasnet.com/updates.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.