Despite a weak start to 2024, the VDMA expects an improvement in the second half of the year, with a forecast of stagnation for the year as a whole.
The German industrial valves industry closed 2023 with nominal sales growth of 3 percent, despite a real decline of 6 percent compared to the previous year, according to a recent press release from the VDMA. Domestic business improved by 4 percent, while foreign sales only increased by 1 percent.
"The sales growth in 2023 - similar to the previous year - is primarily due to inflation," says Dr. Laura Dorfer, Managing Director of the VDMA Fittings Association.
The industry, which stands for innovation and export orientation among other things, is confronted with challenges such as bureaucracy and a shortage of skilled workers.
Companies burdened by excessive regulation
“While the order books were still well filled at the beginning of 2023, the number of orders fell towards the end of the year. Our members also suffer from excessive regulation and bureaucratic obstacles. The shortage of qualified specialist personnel is also becoming more and more noticeable,” explains Dorfer.
Despite these challenges, the coming months would also offer opportunities. There are many indications that inflation will continue to weaken over the course of the current year, which should lead to an improved mood in industry and give the general economy a boost.
“Basically, the valves industry is well positioned and offers the right solutions for future topics such as the energy transition, hydrogen, clean water and the circular economy. In the coming months, companies in the industry will use the leading international trade fairs IFAT, ACHEMA and Valve World Expo in this country, among others, to draw attention to their promising product portfolio. Against this background, we expect a weak first half of the year in terms of sales, but are counting on an improvement in the second half of 2024. We are currently expecting stagnation for the whole of 2024,” says the trade association managing director.
Security and monitoring fittings
Security and surveillance fittings again performed best in 2023 with a nominal sales increase of 6 percent. Shut-off valves recorded a 4 percent increase in sales. In contrast, control valves, which had achieved good results in previous years, recorded a slight decline of 1 percent. While domestic business for shut-off and control valves performed better than foreign business, safety and monitoring valves scored better abroad. The outlook is better for shut-off, safety and monitoring valves than for control valves.
Overall, according to figures from the VDMA, incoming orders are actually 4 percent below the previous year's result.
Exports to China
In nominal terms, exports from German valve manufacturers were able to record gains again in 2023. In total, industrial valves worth around 5.1 billion euros were exported abroad. This corresponds to a nominal increase of 5.2 percent compared to 2022. However, when adjusted for prices, this amounts to stagnation at the previous year's level.
Exports to the most important buyer country, China, have fallen again. After a decline of 6.8 percent in 2022, they fell by a further 1.5 percent to 567.9 million euros in 2023.
Export business with the second most important trading partner, the USA, continued the success of the previous year and climbed again by a strong 11.6 percent. Exports amounted to 537.3 million euros. At the same time, exports to France increased by 7.1 percent. The country continued to hold its third place among the most important sales markets with a purchase volume of 313.0 million euros.
With a remarkable increase of 25.5 percent to 180.4 million euros, the Czech Republic positioned itself as the 10th most important buyer.
