Flow meters: Chinese suppliers a force to be reckoned with

London – Emerson or Endress +Hauser may be shipping 2 or 3 times more flow meters in China than ABB but one should not take one’s eye off of the locals, market analysis firm Research Solutions advises.

“It is now cliche to say how fast growing the Chinese market is for almost anything. And Chinese flow meter suppliers aren’t holding back either, the London-based firm reports.

Cang Nan, Jing Da and Pu Yuan may not be household names, but notes Research Solutions, they top the China market-share table in their respective product areas – positive displacement, turbine and ultrasonic flow meters.

Indeed, according to a recent publication by Research Solutions, local Chinese manufacturers dominate product lines. This includes positive displacement and turbine flow – accounting together for around 15% of the market.

More significantly, though, the firm says local suppliers together account for a larger proportion of the higher technology product areas such as electromagnetic and vortex meters than foreign suppliers do.

The Chinese market for flow meters is served by over 150 suppliers. This is often overlooked due to market fragmentation and here hides the risk of some of these locals redirecting their attention to markets abroad.

“For sure, the likes of Emerson, E+H, Krohne, ABB and Yokogawa invariably occupy the top positions for higher technology flow meters,” notes Research Solutions.

But, it adds, “Shanghai Automation Instrumentation Co., Ltd – the main local force inelectromagnetic and Vortex meters and Vortex meter specialist Qing Dao Automation Instrument Co. Ltd – are just two of many local manufacturers giving the ‘usual suspects’ a run for their money.”

Critically, Chinese suppliers are looking beyond their own border - have been doing so for some time and with some success. The China National Nuclear Group Pu Yuan Corp. is just one example of a successful Chinese exporter - supplying its products to the US Air Force.

“Occupying the Chinese market while it grows is imperative for the long term position of foreign suppliers,” the firm concludes. “If one is not present in the fastest growing market in the world, Chinese suppliers will have a significantly easier time trying to establish themselves in export markets as they have done in many other sectors.”