According to the recently published report by IndexBox Marketing on EU aluminium tubes, pipes and tube or pipe fittings, exports in the sector are still struggling to reach the pre-crisis level despite a healthy growth in the last three years. Increasing shipments outside the EU have till date comprised the major portion of the aluminium tubes and pipes export volume, while intra-EU trade has remained flat in the recent years. The volume of export to Japan has soared significantly, though the U.S. and Turkey too remain major foreign markets for the EU.
The EU Member States have recorded accelerated exports of aluminium tubes and fittings over the last three years with total valued at 978 million EUR in 2015. About 28 per cent of the total exports were sent outside the EU. The extra-EU exports totalled at EUR 270 million last year, rising gradually over the recent quarter. It constituted 30 per cent of the total exports the region recorded in 2015. According to the data published in the report, the EU remains a net exporter of aluminium tubes and fittings, used across a large cross-section of industries. 
In value-terms, Italy, Germany, Demark, and the Netherlands topped the list of aluminium tubes and fittings suppliers among the EU members, together comprising 58 per cent of total exports in 2015. During the eight-year period starting 2007 through 2015, the Netherlands and Germany were the fastest growing suppliers of the downstream products. While the Netherlands grew at 4.7 per cent per annum rate, Germany market recorded a 1.8 per cent per annum growth. The other leaders saw their market shares getting reduced during the same period due to a number of cost factors.
EU aluminium tubes and fittings manufacturers are expanding their supply networks to foreign markets. With infrastructural development looking up in emerging economies the exports will rise further over the long term.
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