Europe Material Handling Market Forecasts from 2023 to 2028

The Europe material handling market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.05% over the forecast period, increasing from US$39.743 billion in 2021 to reach a total market size of US$56.107 billion by 2028.

Europe is one of the largest adopters of industrial automation things, and one of the reasons is increasing investment in Industry 4.0 revolution. Additionally, the automotive industry in Europe is also rising. The special attention to advanced technology due to the increasing labor cost, coupled with the growing attention to the working condition is increasing the use of material handling equipment in the region.

Expanding Automotive Industry

As per the ACEA report, the European Union counts 567 passengers and 83 commercial vehicles cars per 1, 000 inhabitants in 2023. Luxembourg is highest with 689 cars per 1, 000 passengers. The market for using automation in warehouses is typically the most developed in Northern Europe. As per the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturing Association), the number of passenger cars increased from 9.99 million in 2021 to 10.90 million in 2022. The increased number of passenger cars indicates an increasing investment in this sector. With the rise in the automotive sector, there will be demand for conveyor belts that are utilized in the automotive industry to carry components from one place to another within the manufacturing unit. Extensively other equipment is used in the automotive sector to increase the productivity of the plant.

Strategic Collaborations in the Market

Major collaborations and investments are happening in material handling technology to increase their market share. For instance, in July 2021, the acquisition of ASTI Mobile Robotic Group (ASTI) which is one of the leading autonomous mobile robots (AMR) was announced by ABB. This acquisition will expand ABB’s automation offering and robotics product portfolio.

Investments in R&D

The increased investment in research and development (R&D) in Europe is one of the reasons providing an edge to the material handling market. The German automotive market is one of the largest manufacturers of automobiles in the world. As per the Germany Trade and Investment Agency (GTAI), all the premium automotive brands vehicles that are produced globally are over 70% German OEM manufactured. Also, the country is one of the highest consumers of automated material handling devices. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) estimated that Germany has the highest density of robotic penetration with 294 units per 10, 000 workers.

Germany is Expected to Grow at a Faster Pace

The booming industrial development and bolstering growth in major end-users of material handling such as automotive and electronics are majorly driving the overall market growth in Germany. For instance, according to the German Association of Automotive Industry, in June 2023, Germany’s automotive production reached 389, 000 units which signified a 30.8% increase over the production scale of 2022 for the same month. Besides bolstering the growth of end-user the establishment of material handling facilities coupled with favorable investments in the same are further driving the market growth in Germany.

Key Market Developments

• In March 2023, Bedeschi S.p.a. announced the establishment of its material handling excellence center in Germany which will focus on stockyard equipment, wagon unloading, and port handling applications.
• In November 2022, intralogistics solution provider KION Group announced investments to expand its production in the field of vertical order pickers and narrow aisle trucks by 60% in Germany’s Reutlingen by 2025.
• In January 2021, Shuttleworth established its new facility in Germany where the company would produce cutting-edge material handling requirements to meet the growing customer demand both domestically and in surrounding nations.

Segmentation:

By Equipment Type

• Storage & handling equipment
• Racks
• Stacking Frames
• Shelves, Bins & Drawers
• Mezzanines
• Industrial trucks
• Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
• Hand, platform & pallet trucks
• Order pickers
• Pallet jacks
• Side loaders
• Walkie stackers
• Bulk material handling equipment
• Conveyor belts
• Stackers
• Reclaimers
• Elevators
• Others
• Robotics
• Automated Storage & Retrieval System (AS/RS)
• Unit-Load AS/RS
• Mini-Load AS/RS

By Application

• Assembly
• Storage
• Packaging
• Transportation
• Others

By End-User Industry

• Automotive
• Electronics
• Chemical
• Pharmaceutical
• Aviation
• Others

By Geography

• Germany
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Others