Industrial Tank Trucks Market: Shipping Fluids With Confidence

A tank truck is a motor vehicle which is used to transport liquids or gases from one place to another in a temperature-controlled environment. In the United States, these trucks are known as tanker trucks, tankers in the United Kingdom, and gas trucks or fuel trucks in other parts of the world. Tank trucks have wide range of applications across industries like oil and gas, dairy, and chemical. These trucks come in various sizes, ranging from large railroad tank-type vehicles for carrying huge liquid loads, to small tank trucks to transport smaller quantity of liquid or gas. Tank trucks can be insulated or non-insulated.

One of the key industries which uses tank trucks for transportation of the final product as well as raw material is the chemical industry. With advancement in technologies, the demand for chemicals is rising at a substantial rate. As this demand for various chemicals from aligned sectors is poised to grow more and more in the coming years, chemical manufacturers are making huge capital investments to further expand their R&D as well as production capacities in order to maintain their presence in the global market while reaching out to the new customer base. The figure given below shows the capital spending by chemical manufacturers across EU member states for the period 2008-2018:

Capital Spending by Chemical Manufacturers Across EU Member Countries, in Euro Billion, 2008 to 2018

 

Source: The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)

According the data provided by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), the European Union, the total spending of chemical manufacturers across member countries totalled €21.3 billion into capital in 2008 which increased to €22.8 billion in 2018. In Asia Pacific region as well, the presence of global chemical giants such as Toray Industries, Inc., BASF, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd, and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is contributing to the overall growth of this region’s chemical sector, with companies constantly involve in growth strategies. For instance, the German-headquartered chemical major BASF has recently announced its investment programme for the next half-decade in Asia which is going to outpace expenditure on its European home market as the company seeks to increase its focus on higher-growth markets. Its investment programmes consists of 41 per cent of investment spending into the Asia-Pacific region over the next five years, as compared with 34 per cent into the European region. The company is expected to spend €8.2 billion into its new verbund site in Guangdong, China and will also allocate capital expenditure to a chemical complex under consideration in Mundra, India. As these chemical manufacturers continue to pump huge investments across different regions, total sales of equipment that are required during the production and distribution across this sector is also escalating. As such, the demand for industrial tank trucks across the global chemical sector is significantly rising, thus spurring the market growth.

The market growth of industrial tank trucks is also bolstered by the booming oil and gas sector, especially in the United States with rigorous investment and growth strategies being adopted by market players. Supportive U.S. government policies and initiatives have led the country to become the largest oil and gas producer in the world. According to the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration), the United States surpassed Russia in 2011 to become the world’s largest natural gas producer. In 2018, the country surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest petroleum producer. Argentina is another country with huge reserves of oil and gas. According to the US Energy Information Administration and Advanced Resources International, the country has the world’s second largest shale gas resources and the fourth largest shale oil resources (27 billion barrels).

As the E&P (exploration and production) activities are increasing, the demand for tank trucks is also rising to transport oil and gas, which is extracted from reserves, to refining facilities for further processing. Moreover, these products are highly inflammable and need to be transported in a temperature-controlled environment safely. With growing focus on safety of workers as well as the environment, tank truck manufacturers are highly focused on manufacturing advanced tank trucks to avoid the spillage and any loss to human health and the environment.  

Demand for industrial tank trucks is also augmenting with the continuously growing global dairy industry. Milk is one such product which is highly perishable and is required to store in a specified controlled environment at all times in order to prevent it from going bad. According to the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2018-27 report, growth in the global milk production is projected to rise by 22 per cent over the period 2018-27, with a large share of this increase coming from India and Pakistan. These two countries are expected to jointly hold 32 per cent of global milk production in 2027. Also, the share of the European Union (EU) in global exports of dairy commodities is expected to increase from 27 per cent to 29 per cent over this projection period. 

The figure given below shows the trends in production of milk in India for the period 2013-2018:

Milk Production in India, 2013-14 to 2017-18, Million MT

Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries

Therefore, growing production of milk across different regions/countries will continue to bolster the growth of industrial tank truck market during the next five years.

The report, titled Global Industrial Tank Trucks Market, by Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence, segments the market by capacity, end-user, and geography. The market is classified by capacity as small duty (less than 1000 gallons), medium duty (1000 gallons-4000 gallons), and heavy duty (more than 4000 gallons). By end-user, the market segmentation is done as oil and gas, chemical, and dairy. Geographically, the global industrial tank trucks market is segmented as North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anjali Joshi is a senior market research analyst at Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence. She oversees a team of analysts and is known for the quality of market intelligence she delivers to the clients which range from start-ups and Non-profit Organizations to Fortune 500 companies. Anjali’s keen understanding of international business and market dynamics, coupled with her years of experience working in this industry, allows her to analyse current and future trends across both global and clients’ target markets and help them in making informed decisions.