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...than 10 years, this means that many companies are experiencing their first downturn ever. Or at the very least, it was the first time that growth curtailed. Despite all of this, recent Stone World survey of fabricators across the country revealed an optimistic mood among respondents. In general, fabricators have a fairly positive outlook for 2008, and they are predicting significant growth in the industry over the next five to 10 years.
Forecast for 2008
Speaking on the coming year, only a small quantity of respondents (15.7%) expected the market to decline in 2008. Approximately one-third of fabricators (36.7%) said that the market would hold steady this year, and perhaps most encouraging, nearly half of the fabricators polled (47.6%) felt the market would increase in 2008.
On the negative side, fabricators who predicted a decline in business in 2008 felt that the impact would be fairly significant. A total of 94% of these respondents said the decline would be greater than 10%, and the majority of those predicting a decline (60%) felt that the drop-off would be greater than 15%. Overwhelmingly, fabricators cited the sagging housing market and general economic slump as the reasons for their less-than-positive outlook. "We do not believe we will see relief from the current economic downturn until 2009," stated one fabricator. Increased competition from new stone fabricators was another major factor cited by respondents. Summing up the feelings of several fabricators who took part in the poll, one respondent stated: "There are just too many fabricators springing up."
Meanwhile, fabricators calling for growth this year are also expecting fairly major changes. A total of 83% of those expecting growth said it would be more than 10%, and 37.9% felt that the jump would be over 15%.
The stone fabricators who are predicting growth in 2008 also offered several common factors for their optimism. Many respondents pointed to the affordability of stone as well as market demand and consumer awareness. "Stone is an excellent product that is becoming more affordable," stated one...
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