Australia’s countertop market will total 4.15 million square meters in 2021. Australia’s countertop demand per capita is the second highest of any major market, lagging only the US.

Global demand for buses is projected to increase 4.9% per year through 2021 to 623,000 units, an improvement over 2011-2016 market performance. The number of buses in use worldwide is expected to reach 9.7 million units.

Demand for oxygen and other gas barrier films is forecast to increase 4.1% annually to $4.1 billion in 2021. Growth will be driven by demand for higher performing gas barriers that prolong product lifespan.

Demand for ceiling products is forecast to reach $2.4 billion on annual growth of 4.1% through 2021, driven by office and commercial construction spending as well as a shift toward higher quality products in the nonresidential market. Ceiling demand in terms of square footage noticeably trails value gains due to increasing open ceiling plans in many large nonresidential buildings.

North American aftermarket demand for brake shoes, pads, and linings is projected to expand 2.6% per year through 2021 to $1.8 billion, in line with projected market gains for brake parts as a whole. Sales gains will continue to be supported by the constant wear on these parts, resulting in regular replacement.

American tool manufacturers, particularly those making hand tools, have been hit hard by competition from lower cost imports from China and other parts of Asia. Foreign companies are also making inroads in the US market by buying American tool producers and their well-known brand names.

Warm air furnaces comprise the vast majority of overall demand, with 64% of total value sales in 2016. Forced air heating is preferred in the US, installed in both commercial and residential buildings.

Pesticides are one of the most hotly debated topics among environmental and agricultural scientists today, and the EPA’s March 29, 2017 decision to continue to allow the use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos in agriculture is proving to be controversial. Under the leadership of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the EPA is permitting the continued use of chlorpyrifos in agriculture because it believes the science linking the insecticide to neurologic and developmental disorders is not sound.

Sales of recreational marijuana are expected to surge this 4/20 in Washington DC and the eight states where it is legal. But the industry’s growth outside of the unofficial holiday is not mere puffery.

Demand for power lawnmowers is forecast to rise 3.2% per year to $4.2 billion in 2021. Sales advances are expected to slow from the rebound-fueled pace of the 2006-2011 period.