Ball Valve Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Market Overview

The Ball Valve Market was valued at USD 11.68 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 13.93 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.1% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026). A global increase in the demand for oil and gas is expected to be one of the major factors contributing to the ball valve market growth.

The impact of COVID-19 has not been the same on the vendors since some of them offer and service ball valves only for the food sector, while others offer only for the oil and gas sector. Vendors who cater to food processing are nowadays most profitable since the manufacturing of food-related items have been deemed under essential services, and those facilities have been working extra hours to fulfill the demand. The pandemic has disrupted the maintenance of oil and gas projects and refineries space which is already impacted due to slumping prices. The price of Brent crude oil plummeted in March 2020, and, despite recovering, partly as the result of record cuts to production agreed by OPEC, closed at USD 40 (for the August contract) on the 24th June 2020. (source: OPEC). Repairs of valves are regularly needed to keep wells pumping, pipelines and refineries functioning. However, due to global lockdown, the maintenance activities have been halted, due to which there is an increased risk of glitches or unplanned outages. 

• Valves play a vital role in increasingly complex industrial environments. Pipelines are necessary for every industry that deals with fluid, whether they are in crude oil or natural gas production. Nearly all industry verticals, like medicine, food processing, water treatment, engines, machinery, plant engineering, or the conveyance of gas, fluids, and free-flowing solids, there is extensive usage of pipes and valves. 
• Such elaborative application for transportation of fluid has made pipelines highly acceptable solutions. Valves also bring flow control in pipeline applications. The ball valve is a quarter-turn valve suitable for clean gas-compressed air and liquid service in industrial applications due to its tight shutoff. They can also be used for slurry service, but provisions for preventing crud buildup arere needed. 
• Pipeline ball valves can be complemented with various types of anti-cavitation and noise-protection trims to stage the pressure drops and prevent cavitation. This allows the valve to not take the entire pressure drop at once. 
• Ball valves are generally used in large bore sizes where smaller dimensions of other kinds of valves such as butterfly valve result in stem sizes that are generally smaller and weaker. In applications where space limitation and structural load are the most significant concerns, such as in offshore drilling platforms and Floating production storage and offloading (FPSOs), ball valves are not preferred by the users. The triple offset butterfly valve is preferred due to its applicability in offshore platform installations.
• Earlier ball valves are limited to temperature applications below 170 degrees due to the selection of soft materials. Now the selection of seating elements coincides with the parent material like steel leads to the versatile selection of ball valves for high-temperature services. Virtual development in spraying technologies leads to a revolution in ball valves.

Scope of the Report

The ball valve is a spherical closure device that controls the flow and pressure of liquids and gases within a system. It is a form of quarter-turn valve which uses a hollow, perforated, and pivoting ball to control flow through it. Valves play a vital role in increasingly complex industrial environments. Pipelines are necessary for every industry that deals with fluid, whether they are in crude oil or natural gas production. Nearly all industry verticals, like medicine, food processing, water treatment, and in engines, machinery, and plant engineering, or the conveyance of gas, fluids, and free-flowing solids, there is the extensive usage of pipes and valves. The market study comprises of qualitative material segments, along with qualitative and quantitative segment study of end-user industry and geography. The assessment of the COVID-19 study has also been covered in the study.

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Key Market Trends

Food Processing Industry Expected to Have Significant Applications

• The food processing industry is one of the major applications for ball valves, as operations like product fillings need to maintain a regulated flow throughout the process.
• The balls valves in the industry include both valves that come directly in contact with the material, and those are used in utility services, like water and steam. In both cases, valves need to be designed to meet several industry regulations, especially the ones in direct contact with the food material. This poses significant challenges for manufacturers to gain regulatory approvals.
• Among all the types of materials, stainless steel is gaining importance since they are more corrosion resistant. Because valves are meant to open and close, corrosion can cause a big issues. These kinds of valves are observed to hold up much better to harsher water types, which can be beneficial in food processing plants. 
• They also has a higher pressure rating than other types of materials such as brass. For instance, a standard brass ball valve might have a Pressure rating of 600 PSI on a 1-inch model. A standard Stainless Ball Valve would probably have pressure rating of 1000 PSI on 1-inch model.
• In the food industry, even the valves and their fittings that can come into direct contact with the products need to meet the criteria set by several regulatory authorities. Many industries that have their pipelines extended in long distances need to carry pigging solutions to clear any residual settlement in the pipelines. For instance, in gas pipelines, such residual can impact the flow and even the production. Special ball valves that have the same internal diameter as pipes are preferred in such applications. The major requirement for the ball valves in industrial applications is for the isolation of the system and pumps, or other equipment, in case a maintenance-based need arises or the flow needs to be channelized between different lines.
• Increasing government spending to enhance the existing food processing infrastructure, to achieve self-sufficiency goals, is expected to provide better growth opportunities to the market. 

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