According to Industrial Valves: World Markets published by McIlvaine Company, in 2012 Chinese purchasers will be buying valves valued at $2.4 billion. The Chinese market will be 10 percent larger than the U.S. market and nearly four times larger than Japan.

Three of the top ten and six of the top twenty purchasers in 2012 will be Asian.

The valve market in Asia has continued to expand during the recession while the market in Europe and the U.S. has contracted. Several of the large publicly owned valve companies have small market shares in Asia. This has led some analysts to under estimate the size of the world market. The growth in sales by small Asian valve companies has more than offset the reduced sales at the big international companies.

The Asian market has benefited from the stimulus package instituted by China, especially the municipal water segment. The power industry in Asia is another strong segment.

The total world valve market including butterfly, ball, gate, plug, and other valve types will rise to $54 billion in 2012. Thousands of companies manufacture valves. Tyco, the largest supplier, has 5 percent of the market. Flowserve and Emerson each have less than 3 percent. Only 55 companies have more than 1 percent market shares; so the market is very splintered.

Source: McIlvaine Company 

In the following pages you can find info on the participating brands: Belimo, Bell & Gossett, Genebre, Hora