Metal Valve Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 900 metal valve manufacturers in the US produce devices that control, regulate, or isolate the flow of fluids and gases. Major valve categories include automated; ball; gate, global, and check; industrial butterfly; plug; and pressure relief. Large firms typically manufacture complementary products, such as pipes, fittings, instrumentation, control systems, and pumps. Customer industries include chemical; water and wastewater; petroleum production and refining; power generation; oil and gas transmission; pulp and paper; commercial construction; and food and beverage.
Dependence on the Health of Customer Industries
Demand for metal valves depends heavily on the health of end-use markets, such as the petroleum, chemical, and water/wastewater industries.
Foreign Production and Competition
Many large firms have operations and businesses in foreign countries, exposing them to changes in trade policy, fluctuations in currency rates, and uncertainty due to political instability.
Industry size & Structure
The average metal valve manufacturer employs between 44 and 152 workers and generates about $36 million annually.
- The metal valve manufacturing industry consists of about 900 firms that employ 89,000 workers and generate about $32.5 billion annually.
- The industry is concentrated; the top 50 companies account for about 66% of revenue.
- Large US firms include divisions of Emerson (Fisher), Parker Hannafin, and Crane, Mueller Water Products, and Watts Water Technologies. The industry also includes large multi-national conglomerates headquartered in foreign countries.
- The North American valve manufacturing industry supplies about 35% of worldwide valve demand, according to the Valve Manufacturers Association (VMA).
Industry Forecast
Metal Valve Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jun 5, 2024 - Price Rising Amid Falling Sales
- Producer prices for metal valve manufacturers rose 6.1% in March compared to a year ago after rising by 9.8% in the previous annual comparison, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Producer prices have risen steeply and steadily since 2021 before starting to flatten in the second quarter of last year amid a decline in sales of fabricated metal products. Fabricated metal products industry sales fell 13.2% in Q4 2023 year over year and were down 13.8% from Q3, according to the Census Bureau. Employment by metal valve manufacturers grew 2.2% in March year over year and was about even with March of 2020, BLS data show.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) can help reduce scrap and energy usage in the casting process, helping the value industry to reduce its carbon emissions, according to a recent article in Valve World Americas (VWA). Castings are central to metal valve production and are found in pressure boundary parts, wedges, and other key valve components. However, foundries that produce metal castings are major energy consumers. Algorithms, machine learning (ML) models, and optimization techniques can be developed in metal casting processes to minimize casting defects through AI, reducing scrap and energy usage and, ultimately, carbon emissions. By taking a predictive ML/AI approach to the casting process, metal casters and valve manufacturers can plan their roadmap for sustainable manufacturing, writes VWA. Foundries should consider how AI solutions can be used to improve quality, reduce energy, and improve sustainability for casting and other processes used in the making of metal valves.
- Value manufacturers’ sales practices have evolved to embrace social selling, which is cost-effective and allows for the standardization of presentations, Valve World reports. While in-person sales calls still take place, today most of the sales activities in the valve industry are happening over the internet via Zoom and other video conferencing platforms that leverage technology to demonstrate the functionality and applications for different valve products. Sales reps can run standardized presentations on their laptops and no longer need to personally explain the function of the valves, as the industry once did with sample cases. Today, many valve product presentations are accessed on company websites and don’t require the initial involvement of a valve sales rep, VW reports. Moreover, social marketing platforms such as Constant Contact and LinkedIn are being used throughout the industry to raise manufacturers' profiles and draw attention to new products.
- More than two-thirds of manufacturers have a positive economic outlook for 2024, but opinions are mixed about whether there will be a recession, according to the Q4 2023 Manufacturers Outlook Survey of member companies by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Large manufacturers are the most optimistic, with 77.5% positive about their company’s outlook, while medium-sized manufacturers are the least optimistic with 63% feeling positive. While fewer respondents expect a recession in 2024 than they did three months ago, nearly 41% said they feel uncertain. Just over 34% of manufacturers believed the US economy would experience a recession in 2024. The top challenge for the manufacturing sector this year will be the workforce, with the labor market cooling substantially but remaining tight. Notably, NAM reported manufacturing construction spending is at a record high of $210 billion thanks to the production of semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries, and general reshoring.
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