Economic Uncertainty Continues to Dampen Valve Shipments
This study is intended to serve as an effective planning guide for control valve, actuator, and positioner suppliers and new entrants to the business. Control valves regulate the rate of fluid flow as the position of the valve plug or disk is changed by an actuator. Control valves are used to maintain a process variable as close as possible to the desired set point.
In 2009, the global economic downturn continued to depress control valve supplier revenues, pushing down sales by nearly 4 percent overall compared to 2008. Uncertainty about when the recovery will start and what shape it will take continued to haunt suppliers in 2009 as many suppliers’ backlog orders diminished sharply during the course of the year as new orders remained sluggish. Suppliers focused on aftermarket services and the chemical industries suffered the worst in 2009, as the demand for aftermarket services and chemicals for the automotive industry fell precipitously on a global basis. Suppliers focused heavily on the upstream oil & gas industry fared the best during 2009 as long-term project activity continued. Despite ongoing activity in some emerging countries, new order activity remains sluggish overall, and will have to pick up significantly for a complete recovery to take place in the control valve market.
Strategic Issues
The global control valve market has fallen on hard times as the world continues to wait for a clear sign that the global economic recession has ended. Even the rapidly expanding developing nations are not immune to this phenomenon. Consequently, control valve suppliers find themselves competing fiercely over dwindling opportunities. Key supplier recommendations and strategies for success in the global control valve market are analyzed in this study and include:
- Address changing workforce demographics
- Increase service capabilities
- Benchmark the value of digital postioners