The world market for industrial valves will grow from $38 billion in 2003 to over $44 billion in 2007, according to a new forecast has just been incorporated into the online "Valves: World Markets" report published by the McIlvaine Co.
In terms of valve types, the automatic regulatory and control valve segment will be the largest with over a 20 percent market share. Ball valves will garner almost the same share followed in order by gates and globe valves, butterfly valves, and industrial plug valves. A variety of miscellaneous valve types are aggregated in a sixth category which will account for $7.6 billion in sales in 2007.
Industry market shares have also been determined for each country and for each valve type and aggregated to determine world shares. The oil and gas industry is now and will continue to be the largest purchaser. Refineries are the second segment, followed by power, and then the chemical industry.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants comprise the fifth largest segment, followed by pulp and paper, and municipal water supply. There are several other industries that will each purchase more than $1 billion worth of valves in 2007. They are food, iron and steel, and pharmaceuticals. The next tier of industries includes metals, mining, and semiconductor.
The power industry has been one of the most volatile markets. There was a rush of orders for valves for combined cycle gas turbine plants in 2000 and 2001. In 2002 orders plummeted. However, a rebound is starting again thanks to activity in coal-fired generation. Coal-fired plants spend three times as much for valves as do gas-fired plants of the same electrical output. As a result, the long-term valve potential is larger now that coal is firmly back as the fuel of choice.
More than five thousand manufacturers around the world make valves. Nearly one thousand of these companies are specifically identified in the report.
Large companies do not dominate the market. The top five companies, Tyco, Flowserve, Emerson, Dresser, and Kitz, on a combined basis, only have a 12 percent market share. The second set of five companies, ABB, SPX, Circor, Metso, and KSB only has a combined 4 percent market share. Companies in the 11th through 15th slots have a combined market share of just 3 percent. So the top 15 companies only control 19 percent of the market.
For more information click on Valves: World Markets at http://www.mcilvain ecompany.com/water.html#N028.
