Industrial Valves: World Markets, published by the McIlvaine Co., has concluded that by 2012 Chinese valve market will be 10% larger than the US market and nearly four times larger than Japan. Purchasers will be buying valves valued at USD 2.4 billion. Three of the top ten and six of the top twenty purchasers in 2012 will be Asian.

The valve market in Asia has continued to expand during the recession while the market in Europe and the US has contracted. Several of the large publicly owned valve companies have small market shares in Asia. This has led some analysts to underestimate the size of the world market. The growth in sales by small Asian valve companies has more than offset the reduced sales at the big international companies.

The Asian market has benefited from the stimulus package instituted by China, especially the municipal water segment. The power industry in Asia is another strong segment. The total world valve market including butterfly, ball, gate, plug, and other valve types will rise to USD 54 billion in 2012.