How China's Valve Industry Enters the World Stage

Editor's note: The world economy in the post-crisis era is gradually recovering, and the import and export market for valve products in China is also steadily increasing, and the competition in the international valve market is also increasing. Compared with large foreign companies, we still have a large gap in high-end technology. Product technology has become a major obstacle to the rapid development of China's valve products.

With the recovery of the world economy, the import and export of China's valve products have also increased, but the competition in the international valve market is also increasing. Because there is still a large gap between high-end technology and foreign large manufacturers, in the coming period, product technology will become a bottleneck restricting the development of China's valve products.

Valves are indispensable fluid control equipment for various departments of the national economy such as petroleum, chemical industry, power stations, long-distance pipelines, shipbuilding, nuclear industry, various cryogenics, aerospace, and marine oil extraction. After years of development, the number of valve companies in China ranks first in the world. There are about 6,000 valve companies of all sizes, of which 900 have an annual output value of more than 5 million yuan. From the product point of view, China's valve industry has now been able to produce more than 10 categories of products, such as gate valves, globe valves, ball valves, butterfly valves, safety valves, check valves, throttle valves, plug valves, pressure reducing valves, diaphragm valves, Traps, emergency shut-off valves, etc., the maximum operating temperature of 570 °C, the lowest -196 °C, the maximum pressure of 600Mpa, the maximum diameter of 5350 mm. In addition, according to relevant department statistics, China's valve market turnover is as high as 50 billion yuan each year, of which more than 100 billion yuan of the market has been occupied by foreign valve companies. Although the valve industry in China has undergone vigorous development after the reform and opening up, it has achieved notable results. However, at present, there are still some problems in China's valve industry. For example, currently China's valve companies mainly focus on low-level, small-scale, and family-oriented enterprises. In the product, due to repeated investment, technology investment, and insufficient introduction, the leading product of China's valve companies is still low-quality mass products.

At present, various types of valves produced by enterprises in China have the disadvantages of external leakage, internal leakage, poor appearance quality, short life span, inflexible operation, and unreliable valve electric devices and pneumatic devices. Some products are only equivalent to the eighties of the previous century. The early international level. Some valves required for high temperature and high pressure and critical equipment still rely on imports. In addition, China's valve industry in the industrial structure, the industrial chain of the valve industry, and the industry's degree of specialization have a wide gap with foreign companies.

Analysts pointed out that the valve is an important fluid control device that involves many sectors of the national economy and is an important basic device for the development of the national economy. After years of development, China's valve products have formed more than ten categories, especially in the number of companies and production and sales in the forefront of the world, but mostly small-scale, low-level enterprises, the main products are low-end. At present, 20% of China's valve market is occupied by foreign companies, mainly in the field of high-end valves.

Since the reform and opening up, the rapid expansion of the valve market, the impact of the state-owned enterprise acceptance system shut down the crisis, township and private enterprises due to limited technical power, can only be imitated production, which is the main reason for the low quality of manufactured domestic valves. At present, the country has introduced a policy of revitalizing the equipment manufacturing industry, especially focusing on supporting the development of general basic manufacturing. Our country is facing a shift from the agricultural era to the industrialized era and will greatly increase the demand for valve products. The support of national policies and the huge demand for the product market will be a powerful driving force for the rapid development of the valve industry.

"2011-2016 China's valve market analysis and investment prospects report" shows that China's valve market demand is huge, the demand for high-end valves is also increasing. It is necessary to change the current situation of small, zero and scattered enterprises through the merger and reorganization of enterprises, and to achieve large-scale and intensive production. Valve companies should also seize the current opportunities for development, increase scientific research investment, increase research and development capabilities, and significantly increase product quality and technological content in order to gain a proactive position in fierce market competition.

The reason for the low quality of domestic valve products: As the market has expanded rapidly, and the original state-owned valve companies have shut down and switched, the level of the mechanical industry was not high, and township and village enterprises (private enterprises) developed rapidly. However, township and village enterprises have a low starting point, technical strength is very weak, equipment is simple, and most of the products are simulated production, especially low-pressure valves for water supply and drainage, and the problem is serious. Contrary to these problems, the future of China's valve industry market is very broad. This is mainly due to:

1. National policy support. As the country's policy of accelerating the revitalization of the equipment manufacturing industry is gradually advancing, the development of the general basic manufacturing industry will be further supported.

2. Strong demand for valve product market. The state-owned economy has continued to develop steadily. Investment in fixed assets has gradually expanded. In particular, the commencement of several projects of the “West-East Gas Transmission”, “West-East Electricity Transmission” and “South-to-North Water Transfer” projects require a large number of valve products; in addition, China is facing the arrival of the industrialized era, the petrochemical industry, and the power sector. The use of large valve manufacturers in the metallurgy sector, chemical industry, and urban construction will increase the demand for valve products. For example, during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, the electric power industry speculated that the total number of valves needed for large- and medium-sized projects in coal-fired power plants was: total valve demand was 153,000 tons, annual average demand was 30,600 tons; total valve demand was 3.96 billion yuan. The average annual demand is 792 million yuan.

3. With the entry of WTO, the reduction of international trade threshold and the adjustment of product structure by developed countries, China is gradually becoming the largest processing plant in the world, and the processing and manufacturing of valve products face greater room for development.

Therefore, as long as the company can seize the opportunity to strengthen research and development capabilities, and continuously improve product technology content and product quality, will be able to occupy a proactive position in the vast market competition.