After a slight stumble in 2010 in the wake of the global recession, the worldwide flowmeter market has rebounded strongly, growing at double-digit rates through 2011 and 2012 as suppliers fulfilled pent up demand in the power, mining, and oil and gas industries. "Sales of major flowmeter technologies will continue to move at brisk rates going forward, driven by increased business in the chemical and energy sectors," says Allen Avery, senior analyst for
ARC Advisory Group and principal author of ARC's "
Flowmeter Global Market Research Study." "Flowmeter suppliers will benefit from investment and expansion activities, and they have aligned their business goals to capitalize on growing industry segments and geographic regions that will enable them to increase market share.The energy sectors will see the strongest growth in the years ahead. Oil prices are on the rise again with the economic recovery, increased demand, and political and social unrest in the Arab world. This should continue to drive demand for flowmeters going forward, as higher prices favor increased exploration, production and processing of fossil fuels. Also, the need to bring refined fuels to growing markets in Asia will drive construction of pipelines and fuel terminals, increasing demand for custody-transfer capable flow measurement devices. Mining will also see steady growth if commodity prices hold.More widespread adoption of intelligent field devices such as ultrasonic and coriolis flowmeters has helped owner/operators to improve the accuracy of their flow measurements, with repeatability and reliability previously unavailable with older mechanical meters or crude methods such as orifice plates or PD meters. Device intelligence has helped flowmeters to evolve beyond their basic purpose to be indispensable tools for process and business improvement.North America will see strong activity, particularly if oil prices remain high, justifying continued investments in oil sands projects in Canada. The unfolding shale gas plays in the U.S. will also present suppliers with significant opportunities in the coming years. In the EMEA region, growth will be driven by oil and gas projects in the Middle East and Africa, as well as investments in refining capacity and liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing and loading facilities. Asia will continue to be the engine of global growth as new construction in the power, oil and gas, and water and wastewater sectors continues as the economies in China and India advance, and demand for consumer goods and transportation increases. Latin America, though the smallest global market for flowmeters, will nevertheless see strong activity in oil and gas exploration and production, mining, and renewable fuels over the next several years.
