Sweden's Electrolux said it expected a resurgent U.S. economy to underpin a slight rise in global demand for home appliances next year and falling costs for raw materials would also help it. Electrolux, vying for market leadership with U.S. rival Whirlpool and China's Haier, also expected to generate cost savings of 1 billion crowns ($135 million) in 2015. The savings would come from the latest stage in a series of cuts which have included job losses and plant closures. Electrolux is banking on a recent $3.3 billion acquisition of General Electric's appliances business to boost its returns from the U.S. market. "For 2015, total market demand is expected to be slightly positive, with continued growth in North America and stabilized markets in Europe and in Latin America," it said in a statement. "Electrolux is expecting a continued slowdown in demand in several markets in Asia/Pacific," it added in a statement coinciding with presentations to analysts in the United States. Demand for white goods such as fridges, freezers and stoves has risen at a healthy rate in North America this year. That contrasts with anaemic growth in many parts of a Europe where a weak underlying economy is subduing consumer spending. However, the company noted that costs stemming from new U.S. energy requirements within refrigeration products and freezers would persist into the first half of 2015. Working in Electrolux's favour is a steady fall in raw material prices in recent months and the company, which sells under brands such as AEG and Zanussi as well as its own name, said this would provide a boost next year. (Reuters)