MARKET REPORT
Strong foreign business ensures growth in industrial valves
Despite a decline in domestic business , manufacturers of industrial valves were able to record an overall increase in sales of 5 per cent in the first half of the year . A similar level of growth is also expected for the year as a whole .
By Dr . Laura Dorfer , VDMA
Industrial Valves TOP 10 export countries
in million Euro ; total export : 2,660.2 million Euro (+ 0.6 %)
China USA
France Netherlands
Italy Austria
United Kingdom Poland
Czech Republic Switzerland
The industrial valves industry can look back on a successful first half of 2024 , exceeding expectations . Despite a decline in domestic sales , overall growth of 5 per cent in nominal terms was achieved as a result of a strong expansion of foreign business . While domestic business fell by 5 per cent , foreign sales recorded an impressive increase of 13 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year . However , there is a small downside : after adjusting for price changes , the overall increase in sales of 5 per cent corresponds to a decline of 1 per cent . “ The robust growth in foreign business more than offset the weakness in the domestic market in the first half of the year ,” says Dr Laura Dorfer , Managing Director of VDMA Valves , explaining the current situation . “ In the Asian and North American markets in particular , our members were able to further strengthen or at least successfully maintain their position . The positive performance of the companies at the leading trade fairs IFAT and ACHEMA in the spring also contributed to the fact that the extensive range of products and services offered by our members met with a positive response abroad .”
German economy without impetus
In contrast , the economy in Germany is still not running smoothly . Important customer industries such as the chemical industry have not yet returned to a growth path . VDMA member companies are also struggling with adverse location factors and are feeling the increasing shortage of skilled workers . “ Various risk factors are currently playing a role on the world markets , which is also clouding the outlook somewhat . Against this background , we expect a challenging second half of the year . For the full year 2024 , we currently expect a 4 per cent increase in sales ,” predicts the managing director
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Jan . - Jun . 2024 Jan . - Jun . 2023
Source : VDMA , Destatis
13.9 % -0.2% -9.3% -1.8% -8.2% -11.0% 13.0 % 2.3 % -1.6% -9.0%
of the trade association . “ This makes it all the more important for us as a trade association to support our companies in successfully opening up and developing markets . As the conceptual sponsor of VALVE WORD EXPO in Düsseldorf , we therefore want to ensure that our companies ’ foreign business continues to receive positive impetus , even in these challenging times .”
All sectors report increased sales
The largest increase in sales in the first half of the year was achieved by shut-off valves , with 7 per cent . Safety and monitoring valves increased their sales by 5 per cent and control valves recorded a 2 per cent increase in sales . While domestic business was better than foreign business in the previous year , foreign business now scored in all sectors . The outlook for safety and monitoring valves is somewhat better than for shut-off and control valves . Overall , however , incoming orders are down 5 per cent in real terms on the previous year , according to VDMA figures .
The most important export market , China , is returning to growth
In the first half of 2024 , industrial valves worth around 2.6 billion euros were exported abroad . This corresponds to a nominal increase of 0.6 per cent compared to the good previous year . Exports to China , the most important customer country , have increased significantly again in recent months after two weaker years . After a decline of 1.5 per cent last year , they climbed by 13.9 per cent to 337.0 million euros in the first half of the year . Exports to the second most important trading partner , the USA , remained at around the previous year ’ s high level of 273.8 million euros . At the same time , exports to France fell by 9.3 per cent . The country still held third place among the most important sales markets , with a purchase volume of 156.3 million euros .
26 Valve World October 2024 www . valve-world . net