Trends in the Fluid Power Valve Industry

Trends1 As 2013 winds down and fluid power distributors start planning for 2014, it’s a good time to look at trends in the fluid power and automation industry. Today we cover a series of reports on trends in the pneumatic valve industry.

IHS Electronics & Media has put out an article on changes in the pneumatic components market. Drawing on a report titled “Pneumatic Valves & Actuators”, the article states that the global market for pneumatic valves and actuators, estimated to be worth nearly $8 billion in 2012, is undergoing a competitive shakeup as low-cost Chinese suppliers continue to expand into the U.S. and Europe.

Led by a handful of large manufacturers like SMC and Festo, the market will face increasing competition from a bevy of new suppliers, many based in Ningbo, China. These companies are aggressively expanding into new markets in the West, a development that is expected to trigger intensified competition for established suppliers.

The Chinese suppliers are focusing on standard legacy pneumatic valves and actuators and compete very aggressively on price. They now are turning their attention to the large markets in Europe and North America, which they are addressing through local distributors.

To protect their dominant positions in these massive established markets, established manufacturers are focusing on complex, sophisticated and high-end products and services that are much harder for the low-cost foreign manufacturers to provide. Click this link for the complete press release.

ReportLinker has a new market research report available titled Global Pneumatic Equipment Market. This research service analyses the Global Pneumatic Equipment Market during a study period spanning from 2008 to 2016. It analyses the industry challenges, and market drivers and restraints, and provides revenue forecasts by region.

The study also focuses on the competitive structure of the leading market participants, and provides strategic insights into the emerging technological trends. Two of the take-aways from the study:

The growth of energy efficient pneumatic equipment and the expected emergence of integrated pneumatic equipment are likely to increase the revenues over the forecast period.
The products in the study such as valves, actuators, FRL's, fittings and other pneumatic equipment are likely to have a positive growth rate during the forecast period. In addition, the study would also provide an analysis on the distribution channel and supply chain systems used in the production of pneumatic equipment globally.

IBISWorld has published its Industrial & Fluid Power Valve Manufacturing in the US market Research Report. The report predicts that the industrial and fluid power valve manufacturing industry will continue to grow, with revenue expected to grow to 2.6% ($20 billion) in 2013.

This article in Virtual-Strategy Magazine highlights the findings of the IBISWorld report, including increased pressure from foreign manufacturers, domestic manufacturing growth driven by rising demand for computer-controlled and -integrated valves, and greater demand for fluid power valves from the aerospace sector.

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