World Industrial Valve Market

World demand for industrial valves is projected to climb 4.3 percent annually through 2019 to $98.5 billion. Market advances will be stimulated by growth in chemicals and other process manufacturing output, electric power generation, and construction activity in a generally healthy economic environment. Ongoing efforts to expand water infrastructures in developing countries and maintain or upgrade water and wastewater treatment and distribution systems in developed nations will also contribute to sales increases through 2019. Dollar gains will be boosted as well by greater use of "smart" valves and actuators and other better performing, higher priced items.

China to post strongest gains of any national market

Industrial valve market growth in developing parts of Asia, the Africa/ Mideast region, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe will outpace product demand in Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the US. China will post the strongest advances of any national market in value terms, accounting for 23 percent of all additional valve sales on a global basis. India, a considerably smaller but still sizable valve market, will register larger gains in percentage terms. A number of smaller national markets are also expected to record healthy sales increases. Gains in US valve demand will be bolstered by growth in business investment spending as economic conditions continue to improve. Product sales in Western Europe and Japan will also expand. However, market advances in these areas will lag those in most other parts of the world, limited by below average increases in process manufacturing output and associated fixed investment expenditures.

Automatic valves to outpace standard types

Automatic valves are forecast to continue growing at a faster pace than sales of standard hand-operated valves. This shift in market share away from standard valves is driven by the advantages that automatic valves offer, which include improved safety and reduced operating costs. Automatic valves are also used in inaccessible and remote locations where manual operation is impractical. The fastest sales gains of any major product type will be posted by automatic actuators, fueled by valve users' ongoing efforts to automate standard valve operation by installing automatic actuators as a less costly alternative to replacing units with automatic valves.

Process manufacturing to be fastest growing market

Process manufacturing is the largest market for industrial valves internationally, reflecting the wide range of applications and significant fluid handling requirements in many of the industries included here. Process manufacturing valve demand will also expand faster than product sales in other major valve markets, which include oil and gas, water infrastructure, and other miscellaneous applications such as construction, electric utilities, and mining. Advances will be stimulated by both increases in process manufacturing output and the introduction of new specialty valves, which will help boost replacement demand. The oil and gas market will register the slowest increases due to low oil and gas prices, although new drilling activity and the construction of related oil and gas infrastructure will continue in many areas, providing some offsetting support.