Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry transform purchased metals into intermediate or end-use products by forging, stamping, bending, forming, welding, machining, and assembly. Major companies include Ball Corporation, Flowserve, Gibraltar Industries, Mueller Industries, Snap-on, The Timken Company, and Valmont Industries (all based in the US), as well as Schaeffler Group (Germany) and Toyo Seikan (Japan). Due to the special manufacturing processes involved for individual parts, most companies make a limited range of products.

The rising global trade tensions and higher interest rates could pose risks for continued robust economic growth, according to the IMF. Slower economic growth or a drop in corporate capital expenditures could reduce demand for transportation equipment and machinery, which are leading end-use markets for many types of fabricated metal products. Top emerging countries for steel production include China, India, Japan, the US, Russia, and South Korea, and Turkey, according to WiseVoter.

The US fabricated metal product manufacturing industry includes about 55,000 establishments with about $350 billion in combined annual revenue.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Globalization and customer concentration have intensified competition in the fabricated metal products industry. OEM customers increasingly seek efficiencies by buying more from fewer suppliers. Many middle-market companies are seeing their margins get squeezed as they try to compete with their larger counterparts for this reduced number of overall contracts. Profits tend to be highest for small, local niche companies, as well as for global market leaders that enjoy significant ...