Control valves are automated valves that are used across various industries to regulate the flow of fluids. The size, flow, course, pressure can be directed from a signal controller. The benefits of these valves is that they help in controlling the flow rate directly thereby further smoothly controlling the other vital processes quantities such as level of liquid flow and temperature among others. These valves are widely used in the oil and gas industry.

The control valve market is poised to witness a decent growth throughout the forecast period. The major factors bolstering the market growth include the rising adoption of automation solutions across the various end-use industries that operate with liquids or gases. The constantly growing population has led to the continuous increase in the demand for energy and power and constant investments in the oil and gas sector is also playing a significant role in shaping up the control valves market growth throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, the inclination of numerous end-users towards the employment of connected networks for monitoring and maintaining the various equipment of the plant is also positively impacting the demand for these valves. Furthermore, the rising focus of the governments of both developed and developing companies towards the establishment of nuclear plants is further widening up the opportunities for vendors and manufactures to invest in the market and tap the growing potential of the market.

Furthermore, the constantly growing processing industry around the globe and the increasing number of infrastructural activities in the developing economies has led to an upsurge in the demand for control valves due to the growth in the number of industries across these economies. Also, the participation of the key market players in the form of R&D for the development of new and advanced products is also playing a significant role in driving the market growth in the near future. For instance, recently in June 2020, Johnson Controls, a multinational conglomerate based out of Ireland, that manufactures Fire, HVAC, and Security equipment announced the launch of two new TYCO® pressure control valves for fire protection systems in two models.

Segment Overview:

The control valve market has been segmented into valve type, material, size, industry vertical, and geography. On the basis of type, the market has been segmented on the basis of linear valves and rotary valves. By material, the segmentation of the market has been done on the basis of steel, iron, and others. On the basis of size, the market has been classified into less than 2”, 2” to 8”, and above 8”. On the basis of industry vertical, the market has been distributed into oil and gas, water and wastewater, food and beverages, energy and power, and others. Geographically, the global market has been segmented into North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Oil and Gas to Hold a Significant Market Share

By the industry vertical, the oil and gas sector is projected to hold a considerable share in the global market. The constant increase in the demand for oil and gas. There is a high demand for valves in the oil and gas industry as this industry players are increasing their efforts towards the reduction of the production costs. Thus, there is a significant increase in the adoption of specialized equipment and technology across the oil and gas plants, which in turn is positively impacting the growth of this segment throughout the forecast period.

Crude Oil production, World, 2010 to 2017, in Ktoe

Source: IEA

The above chart represents global oil production around the globe which states that oil production globally increased to 3,893,589 ktoe by the year 2017 from 3,614,767 ktoe in the year 2010. Thus, the growth in the number of oil and gas exploration activities is also one of the prime factors driving the control valve market growth throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, the water and wastewater segment is anticipated to grow substantially throughout the forecast period. the challenging water issues are further leading to investments in sustainable water technologies and developing breakthrough technology in wastewater treatment and distribution, by water treatment and technology companies, further show the growth potential of this segment. Also, investments in new wastewater treatment facilities is projected to amplify the demand for control valves in the coming five years. For instance, recently in January 2020, a partnership agreement was being signed between the OCP Group and Radees and the Oum Er Rbia Hydraulic Basin Agency in Morocco on the construction of the wastewater treatment plant in Safi. The total cost of the project is expected to cost around EUR44.7 million. The constantly growing food and beverage industry is also supplementing the market growth during the forecast period. The major factor bolstering the growth of this segment includes the growing global population, which in turn is driving the demand for processed food.

APAC to Witness a Healthy Growth

Regionally, the North American region is anticipated to hold a substantial share in the market throughout the forecast period. The major factor supplementing the share of this segment is the early adoption of technology coupled with the presence of well-established industries in countries like the United States and Canada. Also, the key players of the market in the region is also supporting the control valves market growth in the region during the next five years.

However, the Asia Pacific region is expected to show healthy opportunities for the market players to invest in the region. The presence constantly growing urban population in the major developing economies of the region such as India, China, and Vietnam among others has led to a rapid increase in the consumption of electricity across these countries. The rapid industrialization in these countries is also playing a significant role in augmenting market growth throughout the forecast period. This can be backed up by the fact, the electricity consumption in India reached 1,269 TWh by the year 2017 from 793 TWh in 2010. Similarly, in China, it reached 6,349 TWh by 2017 from 3,980 TWh in 2010.

Electricity Consumption – India, China (in twh)

Source: IEA

 

Aseptic packaging involves filling of pre-sterilized product in a sterile packaging material under an aseptic environment. Growing pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, especially in the emerging regions due to the rising cases of chronic diseases is driving the demand for aseptic packaging solutions globally. Emergence and innovation of new products and increasing urban population in the developing countries may widen up the growth opportunities for the manufacturers during the forecast period, with the aseptic packaging market size estimated to grow from US$50.019 billion in 2019 to US$85.610 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 9.37%. Strict government regulatory framework and industry standards for pharmaceutical packaging in the developed countries also drive the market growth. However, consumer preference towards non processed food may hamper the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Consumer Demand for Convenience Is Pushing the Market Growth

Growing acceptance of various beverages and shifting preference towards conveniently packed products is expected to drive the aseptic packaging market during the forecast period. Aseptic packaging allows the food manufacturers to meet the consumer demand for safe products as unlike much other processing and packaging method, aseptic packaging doesn’t require the use of preservation. Aseptic packaging also maintains the freshness of the product and is available in pouches, bottles and bags, which are convenient to the consumer. This is further expected to drive the preference for aseptic packaging solutions globally. Benefits associated with the aseptic packaging like extended shelf life of the product without refrigeration reduces the investment cost of the convenience store, enabling them to generate higher margins and is thus attracting a greater number of convenience stores in the region which is further expected to fuel up the demand for the aseptic packaging in the market during the forecast period.

According to National Association of Convenience Stores, the US convenience store industry has around 154,958 stores in 2018, which accounts for about $696 billion in total sales. Moreover, due to rising disposable income in developing countries such as Mexico, there is an increasing demand for processed food that further widen up the growth opportunity for the product during the forecast period. According to USDA, there are approximately 186,000 food processors in Mexico, employing approx. 800,000 employees, and producing US$135.5 billion worth of processed food.

Aseptically Packed Beverage Is Providing Good Growth Opportunities

Aseptic packaging is used by the beverage manufacturers for a variety of purposes including improving the shelf life, cost- efficiency, and the quality of the product at room temperatures. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 20% of the Americans regularly consume milk and milk products and it is projected the total milk consumption will increase in the coming years.

Simultaneously, the expanding proportion of middle class and expanding overall population is further driving dairy consumption in the Asia Pacific region. The trend towards the adoption of aseptic packaging solutions due to its faster processing speed and cost-efficiency due to its ability to relatively lower the logistics and storage cost is one of the major factors driving the demand for this packaging technology for beverage technology. In addition, new players entering the market by providing beverages without the addition of any preservatives will add to the demand for aseptic packaging. The rising number of convenience and chain stores coupled with the ability of aseptic packaging to maintain the product integrity at room temperature will augment the growing demand for this packaging technique over the forecast period.

North America holds a significant share in the market while Asia Pacific is projected to be one of the fastest growing regions

The growing competitive environment in the United States is resulting in the firms engaging in strategies that allow them to reduce their manufacturing and shipping cost, which eventually would enable them to be more profitable. As such, the ability of the aseptic packaging technology to allow the manufacturers to ship and store the products at a relatively ambient environment without requiring refrigeration is driving the United States aseptic packaging market. Simultaneously, the capability of the aseptic packaging technology to remove bacteria and manufacture the end product relatively quickly than the conventional method is further leading to its growing adoption by the firms in the United States. Arkema launched its new grade of hydrogen peroxide for spray aseptic packaging system ‘Valsterane® S-HP in May 2018 that has the potential to aid in the growing demand for rising production speed in the food industry.

Moreover, the retail sales of different type of businesses in the healthcare and food & beverage industry in the United States has shown steady growth over the years despite the country being in the recovery phase for greater proportion of the last decade from the financial crises of 2008. Since the economy is on the path of achieving high growth and the recent effort of the government to support domestic industries is expected to push the disposable income over the course of the forecast period that is further projected drive the retails sales in the future. This is expected to attract more retailers in the market in the food and beverage industry that will push the competition and will encourage cost cutting behaviors among the retail stores, such as the growing preference for keeping the products in the stores that requires no refrigeration.

MILK PRODUCTION IN INDIA, IN MILLION TONNES

Source: National Dairy Development Board

Simultaneously, the manufacturers in the packaging industry are expected to generate high revenue generation opportunities from the Asia Pacific region. This is primarily on account of the growing focus by the government of countries like India, China, Vietnam, and Philippines to promote domestic pharmaceutical and food & beverage manufacturing. The government of India is focused on developing a significant roadmap to push drug development and delivery infrastructure. Moreover, milk production in the country has increased at a CAGR of 5.55% between 2010-2018. Thus, rapidly expanding middle class segment in the region is anticipated to be the prime driver for market growth within the Asia Pacific region.

The global identity and access control landscape is witnessing a continuous evolution. Application of biometrics, which, for more than a decade, had remained confined to some high-end applications which included expensive solutions, can now be seen extending even to low end applications. A good number of biometric technologies like iris recognition, gesture recognition, facial recognition and identification are available in the market today. Although iris recognition started gaining traction in the markets lately, it has been able to gain immense traction in a short period on account of high levels of reliability and security offered by it. Since iris scans cannot be easily duplicated, risk of security breach remains low. Facial recognition and identification also offers significantly high security and reliability and continuous advancements in technologies are making this technology more robust. Apple, for instance, has remained a key innovator in this segment. With launch of Iphone X along with other variants of iphone in 2017 , Apple Inc. also showcased its all-new facial recognition and identification technology. Samsung is also another key innovator in this landscape. However, since the performance and security of contactless identification and access control technologies rely  on the quality of other hardware components, these technologies are still witnessing some challenges when it comes to widespread adoption across all sectors and end users. Limitations of contactless access control technologies have been strengthening the presence of contact-based technologies like fingerprint recognition among end users, thus boosting their market growth. Continuous advancements in fingerprint sensing technologies are making these solutions more robust and breach-proof. Optical fingerprint sensors, which entered the market when the concept of fingerprint sensing came to light, work by shedding a light on a fingerprint, when finger is placed on the scanner, and capturing a digital image of it.

This image goes to the light-sensitive microchip, which then analyses it based on the pattern of ridges and valleys found in the image of fingerprint, and creates a unique identification code for the user by converting ridges into 1’s and valleys into 0’s. This information is captured for all users initially and stored in a database. Now when a user places the same finger on the scanner, the system again converts the fingerprint into a series of 0’s and 1’s and looks for the code it creates in the database. By matching the code to the list of codes in the database, the system either identifies the user or does not identify the user, and decides whether to grant access or not to grant access accordingly. However, high security risks associated with this approach is driving it out of the market and giving way to other approaches like capacitive fingerprint sensing among others. Capacitive fingerprint sensors have, in a very short duration, managed to hold very high traction in the market.

This technology uses miniaturized capacitor array circuits which perform the analysis of fingerprints. The working principle of capacitive fingerprint sensors is is that charge in a capacitor changes at points where ridges of fingerprints come in contact with the conductive plate, and charge in capacitor remains unchanged at points where valleys are present on the fingerprint. The system leverages an analog-to-digital converter, which records the changes in charge in capacitor at all points and converts them into an array of 0’s and 1’s. All points where the charge changes are considered as 1s by the amplifier integrator circuit while the points where the charge remains unchanged are considered as 0’s. Since this type of fingerprint sensing is very reliable, its popularity is increasing across a wide range of end users. The global fingerprint sensors market growth is majorly being driven by robust growth of smartphone market across the globe. Although the market growth seems flat in many developed economies on account of already high penetration of smartphones in such countries, the market growth is high in many developing and under-developed countries on account of huge investments being pumped into business expansion by smartphone manufacturers. For instance, on July 9, 2018, Samsung, a leading smartphone manufacturer, opened its world’s largest facility for smartphone manufacturing in Noida, India. This expansion is a part of the company’s ‘Make for the World’ initiative, under which the smartphone giant carried out this phase-wise expansion in Noida.

The company pumped around INR 4,915 crore in this facility, and seeks to double the annual manufacturing capacity in Noida from 68 million units earlier to 120 million units. Furthermore, recent removal of a clause from its Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme by the government of India have opened doors to immense growth opportunities. Under this clause, the plant and machinery of smartphone manufacturers, which they would bring to the country,  used to be valued at 40% of its value.Since this clause posed huge risks to manufacturers and raised up the barriers to exit for them, it witnessed huge criticism from many of them. Removal of this clause by the government of India, as it seeks to fuel smartphone manufacturing within its borders when the country is struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, and offering of lucrative financial incentives of around INR 500 billion to smartphone manufacturers, the government anticipates inflow of huge capital investments into this sector. Similarly, countries across regions with favorable business environment for smartphone companies are witnessing a surge in the inflow of capital investments into smartphone manufacturing, thus adding impetus to smartphone manufacturing. Moreover, smartphone manufacturing is also increasing on account of increasing penetration of internet worldwide. The figure given below shows the trend:

Global Internet Penetration, % of Population, 2012 to 2017

Source: The World Bank Group

With increasing internet penetration across the globe, we are witnessing an increase in demand for devices which enable people to harness the benefits of internet connectivity. This is increasing the demand for smartphones across the globe, thus driving with it the demand for components like fingerprint sensors. The demand for fingerprint sensors is also being driven by rapid growth of smart hospitality market worldwide. The figure given below shows the expected growth of global smart hospitality till 2025:

Global Smart Hospitality Market, in US$ Billion

Source: Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence Estimates

Since security occupies a strong position in the overall smart hospitality infrastructure, incorporation of fingerprint sensing capability among solutions is increasing, thus augmenting the fingerprint sensors market growth.

Traditionally, prototype development and customized manufacturing primarily involved using the conventional manual modeling techniques along with computer-controlled machining in which subtractive manufacturing methodologies were applied. This technique is relatively labor-intensive and resulted in limited time for product designing and innovation. Furthermore, to achieve the goal of time-to-market, the product designing optimization ability was severely reduced as the prototypes were only made ready late in the designing process. This limitation of conventional manufacturing techniques has been addressed by the introduction of 3D printing technology.

3D printing is a process that involves the construction of a product or object from a digital file. The 3D printing technique is considered to be more efficient and effective in comparison to traditional methods through its combination of functionality, ease of use, high design speed, and relatively lower cost. The ability of 3D printers to eliminate the need for complex manufacturing set-ups tends to drive down the operation cost significantly while simultaneously improving the development cycle of the product. Furthermore, its applications in concept modeling, design review and validation, pattern making, and direct manufacturing among others is further leading to its growing demand with the 3D printing market size estimated to grow from US$9.190 billion in 2018 to US$39.640 billion in 2024 at a CAGR of 27.59%.

Enterprises Using 3d Printing, % of Enterprise, 2018

Source: Eurostat

The proliferation of 3D printing technology is still a small, but growing market segment. According to Eurostat, only 4% of the enterprises in the European Union-28 are utilizing 3D printing technology, with the highest proportion being observed in Finland. Only 5% of the enterprise in Germany, which is considered an engine of Europe, is making use of 3D printing techniques while 6% of the enterprises in the United Kingdom have adopted the advanced manufacturing and designing solution.

Moreover, even though, China contributes the largest proportion of the global value-added in the manufacturing industry, the adoption of 3D printing technology is still relatively low in comparison to the United States and the European Union. This indicates that the market potential is extremely high, with a large existing manufacturing base, the 3D printing industry is projected to surge rapidly in China in the next five years.

Proportion of Manufacturing Value Added by Country in 2019

Source: World Bank

3D printers are essentially the hardware of the 3D printing ecosystem that builds parts on the basic principle: a digital CAD model is turned into a physical three-dimensional object by joining material layer by layer. Earlier, the sales of 3D printers were primarily driven by the prototyping application used in limited industries due to their high cost. However, today, the scenario has changed, and manufacturers have come up with several advanced technologies that have significantly reduced the prices of 3D printers and have extended its applicability to creating complex components parts and others. Its growing utility in the manufacturing and commercial sectors has significantly resulted in significant growth of the 3D printing market.

Services are an integral part of the 3D printing market since it ensures that end-user industries can make use of 3D printing technology without much investment in buying the machines. The businesses across industries make use of professional 3D printing services to get access to other additive manufacturing technologies than the ones they own in-house. The high cost of some technologies like material jetting significantly leads to higher adoption of these services, thus driving the 3D printing services market growth. As a result, manufacturers like Stratasys, HP, 3D Hubs, Shapeways, Inc., Soch3D, and others are increasingly providing 3D printing services for various end-user industries. For instance, 3D Hubs provide online 3D printing services and other technology-based services like MJF 3D printing service for prototyping and small-batch production.

Recent Market Developments

• In July 2020, 9T labs entered into a collaboration with Setforge to bring additive manufacturing CRFP to large scale production. 

• In June 2020, Zortrax announced the launch of an upgraded version of its M200 Plus and M300 Plus 3D printers.

• Redefine Meat is currently utilizing 3D printing technology to manufacture plant-based meat.

• Materialise, in May 2020, launched Mindware – an advisory service that offers technology insights on the use of 3D printing technology. 

• FabRx Ltd announced in April 2020 the availability of its first pharmaceutical 3D printer “M3DIMAKER™” for the manufacture of personalized medicine. 

• Modix – an Israel based large scale 3D printer developer, launched a 3D printer – Big120Z.

• Essentium Inc entered into a partnership with LEHVOSS Group in March 2020 to develop high-performance materials for industrial-scale additive manufacturing. 

• Similarly, Oceanz 3D Printing has recently announced its partnership with AM-Flow to develop completely automated additive manufacturing lines.

• In February 2020, Intech Additive Solutions – a Bangalore based company, specializing in direct metal laser sintering has launched its new varieties of 3D printers.

• Wipro3D in collaboration with Indian Institution of Science developed India’s first industry-grade metal 3D printing machine. 

Plastic Is the Dominant 3d Printing Material

The market for 3D printing materials is expanding at an unprecedented scale owing to the increasing adoption of 3D printing solutions for industrial and residential purposes. Furthermore, the rapid advancements in the industry and innovations allowing for newer materials in the market are estimated to further expand this growth in the coming years. Plastics are the most commonly available 3D printing material. They are used extensively in desktop and residential 3D printers due to their lower cost and easy workability. Plastics are used in multiple 3D printing technologies ranging from vat photopolymerization to FDM to powder bed fusion. As plastics are easier to work with and possess multiple distinctive properties, they are highly sought after for residential and commercial 3D printed solutions. In addition to this, the availability of biodegradable plastics has also instigated the use of these materials in other industries such as healthcare for the manufacturing of medical implants, thus further expanding the market potential for plastics. Furthermore, increasing market innovations and a mixture of plastic resins with other materials such as wood are also estimated to increase the scope for the segment to grow further. Moreover, PLA is also estimated to hold a noteworthy share in the market owing to its extensive use in residential 3D printing and is projected to witness good growth on account of increasing focus towards biodegradable plastic sources. PET is estimated to hold a decent market share in the 3D printing materials market due to its limited usability in 3D printing.

High Potential in the Semiconductor Industry

The growing trend of miniaturization is putting pressure on the firms in the semiconductor industry to break the physical limit in the device. The conventional manufacturing process bound the designers with structural and planarity issues. Since 3D printing technology does not follow the subtractive methodology, its utility in the semiconductor is high, allowing the manufacturers to 3D print the semiconductor components efficiently and effectively. Moreover, it also eliminates the need for assembly and soldering, allowing semiconductor devices to be directly fabricated on 3D printed PCB’s.