VALVE MAGAZINE Fall 2024

MARKET OUTLOOK

Energy Valve Shipment by Sector-2024 FIGURE 2

will continue as new power plants and grid infrastructure comes online.

U.S. oil production expected to increase again next year

In the oil and gas markets, John Spears, president of Spears & Associates, returned to the MOW this year and shared that energy valves represent 34% of the $5.6 billion U.S. indus trial valve market. In Figure 2, energy valve shipments by type show a nice cross-section of valves being ordered for the energy sector. With crude oil production increasing this year and expected to increase next year, petroleum valve shipments may be up as much as 5%, according to Spears, while pipeline construction was up this year but is expected to drop in 2025. Shifting trends in new construction types Paul Trombitas, partner and building products sector lead at FMI Consulting, presented his company’s data and predic tions for the coming years in construction and HVAC needs, including a predicted sizable growth in off-site construction of panels and modular systems built and assembled offsite and later installed on-site. Residential, nonresidential and nonbuilding structures are all expected to increase in demand in the U.S. over the next four years, with residential leading the way. However, industry sentiment indices from FMI sources, the National Association of Homebuilders and the American Institute of Architects vary from 42 to 67, indi cating varying levels of confidence currently, with the last measure being May 2024. Trombitas spoke about where construction is occur ring and defined what he called new and old economy construction. New economy where growth is occurring includes life sciences, data centers, distributed power, high-tech manufacturing and logistics, while old economy includes lodging, shopping centers and malls, offices and movie theaters.

Source: Spears & Association

ammonia, ethylene, methanol and plastics recycling planned. In addition to new construction or additional capacity projects, maintenance spending at plants remains strong with nine ethylene plant turnarounds already scheduled for 2025, offering both manufacturers and maintenance and repair (MRO) companies many opportunities. Burt said the power industry has more than 6,800 projects planned in the U.S. and Canada totaling $1.39 trillion USD, and more than $8.3 trillion planned globally. The push toward decarbonization through tax subsidies and government mandates remains a key driver for renew able power projects, and the development of small modular reactors and other advanced reactor designs for nuclear plants continues and will support this growth. With rapidly rising electric demands in the U.S., construction of new natural gas-fired power plants is on the rise to meet these needs, and retiring of coal plants is delayed due to lack of capacity replacement power. However, these closings

Life sciences continue to increase with prescription drug use among adults continuing to rise. Logistics has also grown rapidly, with a huge bump during the height of the pandemic with home deliveries of nearly everything including groceries, food delivery and from online retailers of all kinds. High-tech manu facturing sites continue to be constructed to meet the demands for computer chips and batteries driven by new technology including electric vehicles. Data center growth has increased due to the rapid adoption of remote

FIGURE 3

Source: Thomas E. Decker Consulting

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FALL 2024

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