TUBE 2014
VALVE WORLD
A Phoenix rises from the recession’s ashes
Emerging markets are coming under the chemical industry’s spotlight. Valve makers nonetheless, are still posed with great challenges.
therefore hit hard by the 2008/2009 recession and German chemical companies also suffered. In the first six months of 2009, production dropped 15.5% compared to the same period last year, bringing production volume down to 2003 levels! Capacity utilization was at a mere 72%, short-time work and downtime were the rule, not the exception. Some valve makers received fewer orders, whereas others, at least had orders for maintenance work. And downtime/ maintenance at least offered plant operators a good occasion for repairs and exchanging valves. After the recession, sales in the chemical industry have risen sharply – the sector arising like a phoenix from the ashes, and plants were running at full capacity once again. Yet the EU debt crisis was making itself felt in the chemical industry. In the second quarter, production sank drastically compared to one
T
he international chemical industry reacts sensitively to sectors in a weakening economy, and was,
quarter before. “For the time being, we will have to postpone our hopes for a stable upswing in chemical business“, declared Dr. Klaus Engel, president of German association Verband Chemischer Industrie (VCI). “Many of our customers are cutting down production and ordering fewer chemicals“ he continued. Compared to last year, production sank by 3%. Despite prices rising around 2,5%, turnover in the sector will stagnate at 184 billion euro. Nevertheless, Germany is still in a class of its own when it comes to exports, and chemicals worth 150 billion euro were shipped abroad.
Dynamic markets in South America and China “A bright spot on the export side, are the strenghtening and dynamic markets in South America and China, which made up for the falling demand from Southern Europe“, said VCI president Engel. After all, anyone who wants to continue doing good business, cannot merely rely on the European market alone. Valve maker AS-Schneider has been focusing on Asia, and they recently secured a deal for the Sadara project in Saudi Arabia. The Dow Chemical Company and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) formed a joint venture in order to build, and, operate a large scale, fully integrated chemical complex in the Saudi Arabian industrial city of Jubail. The new plant is destined to produce three million tons of chemical products and high performance plastics for the energy, transport, the infrastructure and consumer goods markets. Production facilities are to be launched by 2015, whilst the entire plant is to be completed by 2016. According to project co-ordinator
28 IMT February/March 2014
Bjorn Bofinger, “the installation hardware is a combination of valves (ball valves or gate valves), manifolds, pipeline components, seals, bolts and flush rings in every imaginable material.” AS- Schneider delivered its products pre-assembled so that it is only necessary to hitch the hardware to the process pipe, on-site. High-quality products are of utmost importance for projects such as the Sadara project. This is a great opportunity for valves from Western industrial states. A lot of new makers of valves and drive engineering offer products on site, whose quality and dependability is not unaccounted for, reports Tyco Flow Control, yet mistakes cannot be tolerated in this industrial sector, as the production of basic chemicals, such as fertiliser or plastics, often utilises corrosive, poisonous and highly hazardous liquids. Chemical companies in the new markets therefore need a partner they can trust, for instance from the industrialised nations of the West.
Safe plants and better environmental protection Fine chemicals and pharmaceutics
require a high degree of quality and uniform composition. Sampling systems, states Tyco Flow Control, can help secure the quality of products through pinpoint controls. Quality is not the only criterion in the chemical sector that nneds to be fulfilled. Low emissions, a high degree of plant safety and environmental protection are additional, critical criteria. Optimal pressure regulation, sampling, cutoffs and leakage detection have to be guaranteed. This is why the sector is so strictly regulated. Tyco Flow Control are not the only company making sure that products adhere to and are certified for all relevant international regulations and norms. These include TA-Luft and the EPA regulations for the US market.
Component makers face great
challenges. Plant safety and environmental protection have to be guaranteed during a process
I
www.internationalmetaltube.com
photo by Messe Dusseldorf
photo by Messe Dusseldorf
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