Hollow Bar Market

Global Hollow bar Market: Overview

Hollow bar is a round mechanical element whose walls are thicker than tubes and pipes. It has the strength of a solid round bar, but since there is no center, there is less weight per foot. This makes it light in weight, without compromising on its strength. Depending upon application, hollow bars can be machined on the inside and the outside. Hollow bars are often specified by their inner diameter (ID) and outer diameter (OD) dimensions. They are used as raw material stock in the manufacture of radially machined components. The use of hollow bar in manufacturing processes minimizes material wastage and reduces the total machining requirements by avoiding the initial drilling operation.

Global Hollow Bar Market: Trends & Developments

Rise in price of steel has made purchase of steel and iron costlier for many manufacturers of bars, hollow bars, tubes, and pipes. Increase in prices of steel is anticipated to adversely affect the manufacturers of hollow bar, as they would be unable to pass on these costs to customers. Hollow bar is preferred by many manufacturers over solid bars, as they help in saving raw material cost by reducing material wastage and significantly lowering or completely eliminating drilling and boring processes. Other benefits of using hollow bar as raw material stock are elimination or reduction in setting-up time and machine cycle times, lower tool costs, lower labor and overhead costs for each component, lower lubricant usage, and lower machinery maintenance costs. Thus, hollow bars numerous benefits over solid metal bars. This is expected to drive the global hollow bar market during the forecast period.

Global Hollow Bar Market: Segmentation

Based on manufacturing process, the global hollow bar market can be bifurcated into centrifugal casting process and drilling process. A suitable process for manufacturing hollow bars is adopted depending on material type, dimensional tolerance requirements, and other parameters. The drilling process involves passing a drill through a solid bar stock of material to remove the excess material to create a hollow bar. This process can help produce highly accurate part dimensions for critical applications. The other method of manufacturing hollow bars is called centrifugal casting process. Under the centrifugal casting process, a round mold is rotated at high speeds as molten metal is poured into the mold. The centrifugal force created by the spinning mold forces the molten material to flow toward the inside mold wall where it cools and hardens. Centrifugal cast hollow bar tends to be dense and uniform.

Global Hollow Bar Market: Regional Outlook

In terms of region, the global hollow bar market can be divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global hollow bar market during the forecast period owing to the rapid industrialization and rise in number of end-use industries, such as automotive and transportation, general engineering, and heavy industries, which depend on raw material stocks such as hollow metal bars. China dominates the hollow bar market in Asia Pacific, as it is the leading manufacturer, consumer, and exporter of hollow bars in the region. The hollow bar market in India is expected to expand at healthy pace during the forecast period. The hollow bar market in In North America is anticipated to expand at a moderate pace during the forecast period. 

Global Hollow Bar Market: Key Players

Key players operating in the global hollow bar market are Scan Tube Steel Services Ltd., Salzgitter Mannesmann Stainless Tubes GmbH, Sandvik AB, Hub Le Bas, voestalpine AG, Van Leeuwen, Renine Metalloys, VALLOUREC, ArcelorMittal, Stalcor, ISMT Ltd., REOSTEEL (PTY) LTD., Ovako AB, COLLIER & MILLER PTD LTD, Timcast Hollowbar, and Eagle Stainless Tube & Fabrication, Inc.