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AM31010

AMA ELECTRICAL ACCESSORIES MARKET : OCTOBER 2000

Overview

This report covers: electrical accessories, wiring, circuit breakers, switchgear, cables, conduit, trunking, plugs, sockets, switches, lighting fitments, consumer units, moulded case circuit breakers, miniature circuit breakers, residual current devices, distribution boards, fuseboards, fuses, fuseholders, switchboards, isolating switches, switch fuses, domestic & industrial cables, cable accessories, conduit, trunking & fittings, busbars, chambers

Companies covered include: MK Electric, Ashley Rock, Tenby, Volex, Crabtree, Delta, Lewden, Legrand, MK, Wylex, Martin & Lunel, Critchley, Appleby, Panduit, BICC, EDL, Kompress, Tower, Ampliversal, 3M, Tenby

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Key Areas

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

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KEY AREAS

‘The Electrical Accessories Market Report 2000’ from AMA Research offers a detailed review of this £1.5bn market.

Based on product up to 1000V, the report covers in detail:

• Wiring Accessories including plugs, sockets, switches, lighting fitments, others.
• Circuit Protection & Switchgear covering consumer units, moulded case circuit breakers, miniature circuit breakers, residual current devices, distribution boards, fuseboards, fuses, fuseholders, switchboards, isolating switches, switch fuses.
• Cables & Accessories, Trunking, Conduit incorporating domestic & industrial cables, cable accessories, conduit, trunking & fittings, busbars and chambers.

Overall the electrical accessories market has exhibited modest growth, in terms of value and volume, during the late 1990's, benefiting from high growth rates in commercial construction and increasing demand for electrical accessories at work and in the home. Particular growth areas include cable management products and circuit breakers, stimulated by factors including increasing demand for electronic communications networks and greater complexity of wiring & control systems. However, strength of Sterling, low cost imports and price competition in the contractors sector have combined to constrain market growth.

Of Particular Interest:-

• Increasing level of imports from SE Asia is impacting on sectors where there is little feature differentiation, including wiring accessories, cable accessories and cables.
• Changing structure of the cables market, forced by considerable overcapacity in production within Europe.
• Growing level of ownership of electrical appliances in domestic and commercial application areas has stimulated sales of adaptors, with pent up demand for sockets.
• Potential in a number of product sectors, caused by greater emphasis on environmental, safety and energy saving issues - including switches, circuit protection products and fire resistant cable. Trends away from PVC based product.

Key areas of coverage in the report include:-

WIRING ACCESSORIES

• Market size 1995-2004, key underlying market drivers.
• Domestic and industrial product mix by value.
• New Build, Commercial and RMI mix by value of wiring accessories. Effect of recent legislation and improved levels of consumer spending.
• Product mix by value – plugs, sockets, switches, lighting accessories, others.
• Key trends and factors for change in plugs, sockets, switches, lighting accessories etc, others. New build trend, aesthetics, lighting market trends, added value trends etc.
• Imports and exports of wiring accessories – plugs & sockets, switches and lampholders 1995,1997 and 1999.

CIRCUIT PROTECTION & SWITCHGEAR

• Market size 1995-2004 with key market drivers.
• Mix of domestic and industrial/commercial sectors. Shift in mix over time, key application areas, future prospects.
• Product Mix by Value – Circuit Protection Components – moulded case circuit breakers, miniature circuit breakers, residual current devices, air circuit breakers, fuses & fuseholders Panel assemblies – Distribution switchboards, fuseboards, distribution boards, consumer units. Isolating Switches & Switch Fuses.
• Key trends and factors for change by product groups indicated above. Added value developments. Trend towards miniaturisation, ‘intelligent’ and modular products.
• Imports and Exports of fuses, automatic circuit breakers, other circuit protection, switchgear & control panels and enclosures 1995, 1997 and 1999.

CABLES & ACCESSORIES, CONDUIT, TRUNKING

• Market size 1995-2004 with key market drivers.
• Changing structure of cables market due to over-capacity among European producers.
• Domestic and Industrial/Commercial applications – changes over time.
• Product mix by Value – LV power cables, cable accessories, conduit, trunking, busbars, enclosures/trays.
• Key trends and underlying drivers by product groups indicated above.
• Imports and Exports of Cables with ratings of under 1000V - 1995, 1997 and 1999.

SUPPLIERS

• Key suppliers for Wiring Accessories – market shares, key suppliers in product groups.
• Key suppliers for Circuit Breakers and Switchgear – market shares, key suppliers in product groups.
• Key suppliers for Cable Accessories, Trunking and Conduit – market shares, key suppliers in product groups.
• Companies in the overall electrical accessories industry. Turnover, characteristics, ownership, major strengths and weaknesses.

DISTRIBUTION/OTHER

• Structure of the distribution market for electrical installation products.
• Channel share for each of Wiring Accessories, Circuit Breakers & Switchgear, Cables, Accessories, Trunking and Conduit.
• Trade versus retail distribution.
• Electrical Wholesalers – companies, buying groups, super-distributors, characteristics, trends, ownership, opportunities and threats. Growth of national groups, recent mergers and acquisitions.
• Pre-packers, DIY Multiples, Builders Merchants, Electrical Retailers, Other Distributors – key companies, opportunities and threats.
• Purchasers and specifers – key influences on specification: Electrical Contractors, OEMs, Panel Builders, Electrical Engineers, etc.
• External influences – housebuilding, construction output & orders, population, DIY expenditure etc. Economic environment, future prospects.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (1998)

The overall electrical accessories market is analysed in three key product sectors for the purpose of this report:-

• Wiring accessories up to 500v.
• Circuit breakers and switchgear up to 500v.
• Cables, accessories, conduit & trunking.

The performance of these sectors is closely linked to new building and RMI on both housing and non-housing projects.

The overall market developed rapidly in the mid-late 1980's motivated by the positive economic climate, with high levels of domestic, commercial and industrial construction, as well as a boom in consumer spending.

However, the market was adversely affected by the economic downturn during the early 1990's, due to reduced construction levels in all sectors, with consumer oriented markets such as wiring accessories and consumer units particularly badly affected.

Levels of non-domestic construction have exhibited steady growth since 1993, providing a boost to sectors with an industrial or commercial orientation, such as circuit protection and switchgear. However, commercial construction remains well below the levels seen in 1990 and this continues to limit market growth.

The domestic sector has been slow to recover, with confidence in the housing market only returning over the last couple of years. Whilst 1996 and 1997 saw an upturn in levels of homemoving and new build, this has only more recently stimulated an increase in sales of electrical accessories into the domestic sector, with the majority of these products installed towards the end of a construction project.

Another key factor affecting market size and structure has been the dramatic increase in the level of less expensive imported products, primarily sourced from the Far East. This has significantly affected a number of sectors where there is little feature differentiation, including wiring accessories, cable accessories and cables, resulting in falling unit prices, with a negative impact on UK manufacturers sales and profit margins.

The outlook for the electrical accessories market is uncertain due to the anticipated slowing of the economy and the adverse impact of the strength of Sterling on the UK manufacturing industry. This is likely to produce difficult market conditions at least in the short to medium term, although the commercial sector may be supported to some extent by a limited number of prestigious Millennium developments.

The cables and accessories sector dominates the market accounting for some 51 percent of sales, although has lost share over the last few years driven by the fiercely price competitive nature of the cables market. Circuit protection and switchgear, in contrast have grown share, with wiring accessories accounting for the balance.

The wiring accessories sector has established modest growth during the mid to late 1990's, benefiting, in addition to macro-economic influences, from a number of key factors. These include growing household ownership of a wide range of electrical appliances, increased automation in offices and legislation requiring that electrical appliances are fitted with plugs at the point of manufacture. However, the market has suffered from a growing level of cheap South East Asian imports, with these products now established to account for around a quarter of all sales. Sales of wiring accessories are concentrated in domestic and commercial environments, with only a limited share (8 percent) of industrial plugs and sockets sold into factories, warehouses, on-site applications etc.

The major suppliers of wiring accessories for the domestic environment include MK Electric, Ashley Rock, Tenby, Volex, Crabtree and Delta, while the industrial wiring accessory suppliers include Lewden, Legrand, MK, Wylex and Martin & Lunel.

Sales of circuit protection and switchgear products are focused towards the industrial/commercial sector, which accounts for 84 percent of the market and the sector has therefore benefited from the upturn in construction in these sectors.

In addition, the sector has benefited from growth in added-value products, led by the shift away from fuse-based technology towards circuit breaker products, as well as use of modular products and 'intelligent' circuit breakers incorporating electronic components. In addition, the more complex control and distribution requirements of modern buildings has added value to the switchboard, distribution board and consumer unit sectors. Growing awareness and legislation relating to safety issues has also contributed to growth in this sector, with increased use of residual current devices in particular, both in domestic and commercial application areas.

The major suppliers vary according to the different product sectors with Hager, Wylex, Delta/Mem, Crabtree and Schneider (Merlin Gerin/Telemechanique) strong in consumer units, as well as miniature circuit breakers, with B&R Electrical, Wylex, Merlin Gerin, Bill, MEM and MK strong in residual current devices. Moulded case circuit breakers feature Schneider, Crabtree, MEM/Bill/Delta, Wylex, MK, Hager, Mitsubishi, Crabtree, Square D, GE, Dorman Smith etc. Many of these also supply custom built boards although electrical contractors increasingly construct these themselves, benefiting from the development of modular assemblies and Computer Aided Design (CAD).

Cables, accessories, conduit and trunking accounts for the largest share of the electrical accessories market. This is dominated by general wiring cables, though accessories, conduit and trunking are major markets in themselves.

Cable sales are heavily dependent upon new build construction levels, and while there has been an upturn in non-domestic construction, since 1993, levels of commercial construction remain below those seen in 1990. This has resulted in a considerable overcapacity in production, which combined with a growing level of low cost imported cables has produced a highly cost competitive market place.

Whilst the cables market continues to be dominated by UK manufacturers, principally BICC, Pirelli and AEI, these difficulties forced one major manufacturer, Delta, to exit the market altogether in 1998, selling its production facilities to BICC.

Sales of cable accessories, particularly cable management and identification products, have shown good growth benefiting in particular from the increasing complexity of wiring systems in commercial and industrial application areas. Lack of feature differentiation and low barriers to market entry have resulted in a large number of cable accessory suppliers, with a growing level of imported product from China and the Far East. However, major suppliers include Critchley, Appleby, Panduit, BICC, EDL, Kompress, Tower, Ampliversal, 3M and Tenby. The key conduit and trunking suppliers are Marshall Tufflex, EGA, Kopex, Critchley, Barton and Thomas & Betts, in addition to the flexible conduit suppliers Electroflex, Adaptaflex etc.

This comprehensive report represents a detailed assessment of the market, reviewing major trends, key factors influencing developments and future prospects for the sector. Analysis is both quantitative and qualitative, based on our substantial experience of the building and home improvement markets.

Text © 2000 AMA Research

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Last updated by Duncan Nottage 1st February 2001