Mid-East, Africa drive growth of level-measuring industries markets

By Control Engineering Staff September 15, 2005

Level-measuring industries worldwide are expected to grow over the next several years, but not at a uniform rate around the globe, a recent study shows. The most significant increases are forecast for Middle East and Africa.

According to the latest survey data from Venture Development Corp. (VDC) on global process measurement and inventory tank gauging (ITG) markets, the process level measuring device market totaled approximately $1.3 billion in 2004 and is expected to increase at a 4.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to more than $1.6 billion in 2009. The worldwide ITG system market totaled $327 million in 2004 and is forecast to grow at a 5.7% CAGR to $431 million in 2009.

Level measurement is a widely measured process variable that uses many sensing technologies to determine the height of various materials in tanks, containers, silos, or containers holding liquids or granular solids, says the VDC report. The study defines ITG as the use of level measuring for inventory storage and custody transfer applications as opposed to process control. Many ITG systems provide greater accuracy than process level measurement systems and over greater heights, says VDC.

Most significant growth in both product markets is expected in Middle East and Africa regions for gas and petroleum industry applications, the survey indicates. It states that shipments for this industry are expected to rise at relatively high growth rates due to sharply rising fuel prices and expanding Mid-East exploration, oil field production, and refinery capacity. In the ITG area, a growing need to monitor inventory levels more accurately was observed.

Breakdown of the market growth rates puts increases in process level measurement devices at 7.3% for the Middle East & Africa region, compared to 2.4% in North America and 6.4% in Asia-Pacific. In ITG systems, the study puts Middle East & Africa growth at 10.3%, with North America and Asia-America coming in at 4.5% and 6.0% respectively.

For more on this report, click here .

—Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, Control Engineering, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com