Due to COVID-19 lockdown, the manufacturing industry is facing dormancy due to complete shutdown of business operations. Those companies who have been able to restart their manufacturing facilities are facing abruptly scaled down production for conveyor belt material due to a greatly affected supply chain. This will hinder adoption of conveyor belts. The segment is expected to lose value of $5.0 billion by the end of forecast period.
The packaging and warehouse distribution sector is expected to witness growth of 3.5% during the forecast period. Growing demand for e-commerce is one of the main drivers for the growth of the conveyor systems market for warehousing & distribution.
Demand for new warehouse spaces is rising as supermarkets, pharmaceuticals companies and online retailers struggle to keep up with the demand spike amid COVID-19. To ensure inventory levels are adequate and to meet demand for groceries and supermarkets, vendors are keeping higher amounts of merchandise in stock, thus increasing the demand for warehouse space.
Europe is projected to be the leader in the global conveyor system market with more than 25% market share during the forecast period. In Europe, the key driver of the conveyor system is the expansion of warehousing. Increasing opportunities from pharmaceutical and automation industries are driving the expansion of warehouse capacities in Europe. Owing to the presence of many automotive manufacturers, countries such as Germany are expanding their warehouse capacity.
The COVID-19 pandemic will influence supply chains of manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and automotive. The pandemic has also affected transportation and trade because of travel restrictions, quarantine, border control measures and disrupted production. This has disrupted the supply chain of essential raw materials and equipment used in the manufacturing sector. Due to these factors there will be a downward curve for material handling equipment such as conveyor systems, thus resulting in slow growth of the conveyor system market in European countries.