The global market for medium voltage motor control centers was worth more than $140 million in 2010, with more than 5,300 vertical sections or “columns” shipped during the year, according to the research study 2011 Medium Voltage MCCs & Soft Starters, published by IMS Research.
Sales of these products declined heavily in 2009 as a result of the global recession, and the market has been slow to recover over the last two years, the study says.
The U.S. comprised more than 60 percent of the global market during the year, while Canada accounted for nearly 20 percent of total revenues. The markets in the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) region and in Asia Pacific were much smaller, together comprising only 13 percent of total market revenues in 2010.
The study contributes the market’s concentration in North America to end-users having a different approach to systems engineering than in markets outside North America. In the U.S., for example, IMS Research says much of the engineering expertise at many OEMs, and end-users, continue to be downsized, and companies increasingly rely on large industrial automation suppliers such as ABB, Eaton, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and Siemens.
Pumping applications account for the majority of the global medium voltage motor control centers market, says IMS Research. From an industry perspective, this market is heavily concentrated in the oil & gas and mining sectors. These industries accounted for more than half of total revenues in 2010 with a value of nearly $75 million.
Other notable industries in this market included chemicals, commercial HVAC, power generation, pulp & paper, and water & wastewater. Together, these sectors contributed another 26 percent of market revenues during the year, IMS Research says. As in the medium voltage soft starters market, the highest growth forecasts are projected for the oil & gas and mining segments of this market from 2010 to 2015, largely due to high commodity prices that are expected to persist during this timeframe.
