Metal Bellows Market | Covid-19 Impact Analysis

This 242-page comprehensive report, from Stratview Research, on the metal bellows market is one of its kind and estimates the current as well as future growth opportunities for the market participants until 2025. The report segments and analyzes the market in the most detailed manner in order to provide a panoramic view of the market. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for the market participants as well as investors in the identification of the low-hanging fruits available in the market as well as to formulate the growth strategies in order to expedite their growth process.

Metal BellowsMarket: Highlights

Metal bellows are a type of flexible seals used in pipe joints. The bellows help in mitigating movement caused by thermal fluctuation, equipment movement, and vibration or pressure pulsation by converting movement into linear or rotational motion in any piping system. They also reduce the chances of leakage of any fluid or pressure in pipe joints. The performance of bellows depends on several factors including the type of raw material used and its properties, design factor, manufacturing process, etc. Metal bellows are used in a diverse range of applications ranging from the aerospace & defense to pharmaceutical, industrial automation, semiconductor manufacturing, solar power generation, water & wastewater treatment plant, and oil & gas industries.

Despite short-term demand fluctuations, Stratview Research’s estimates suggest that the global metal bellows market is expected to cross the landmark figure of US$ 1.0 billion by 2025, expecting a recovery after a downfall in 2020. The demand for metal bellows is highly subjected to the growth as well as the health of the end-use industries where these bellows are used. Major end-use industries were already under immense pressure and were struggling hard in order to rebound their demand. Several industry-specific regional factors were behind the truncated industry growth or decline. Aerospace & defense and automotive were the major industries that recorded a decline in the year 2019. The outbreak of COVID-19 further aggravated the industry concerns to an unprecedented level.

For instance, the year 2019 was challenging for the aerospace industry, which compelled the industry giants to reconfigure their strategies. The grounding of B737 Max, P&W 1100G engine series failure (A320neo), delayed the deliveries of upcoming aircraft programs such as B777X, and revised production rates of key aircraft programs; A350XWB and B787 due to cancellation of orders from China and other parts of the world, tumbled the market growth. All these factors are not yet completed addressed and impacting the demand. The outbreak of COVID-19 added fuel to the fire to the industry challenges, compelling OEMs as well as tier players to shut down their operations. Both, Airbus and Boeing, are shutting down their operations as per the government instructions. Concurrently, travel restriction or lockdown of major economies are severely denting the business of airlines, which, in turn, are requesting to aircraft OEMs to delay in aircraft deliveries or canceling their aircraft orders. Similarly, the outbreak of COVID-19 further aggravated the concerns of the automotive and oil & gas industries. However, the market fundamentals of most of the major end-use industries, such as A&D, where metal bellows are used, are strong and will help the industry to bounce back from this depression market environment.

Today, the world is skeptical about the possible loss due to COVID-19. The virus is rapidly spreading across regions and jeopardizing the economic growth of the major economies. Currently, lockdown is only a tactical method for fading its rapid spread. All the major economies have already announced lockdown and shutdown of the manufacturing facilities, ready to be pushing their economies in a deep recession at the cost of saving their people.

As per the UNCTAD, the COVID-19 outbreak could cost the global economy up to US$ 2 trillion in 2020, causing a recession in some countries. This will slow down the global economy, the YoY growth estimated to be under 2% this year. The COVID-19 is severely disrupting the supply chain, especially of the automotive, aerospace & defense, and oil & gas industries. All the major industries have started projecting an initial impact of COVID-19 for 2020. Stratview Research’s estimates on the demand for metal bellows for 2020 and 2025 are based on those initial projections coupled, also backed by primary interview results. 

The market is segmented based on the material type as titanium alloys, stainless steel alloys, nickel alloys, and others. Titanium alloys are likely to remain the most dominant material type and are likely to witness the highest growth over the next five years. Growing composites content in the aerospace industry supported by excellent compatibility of titanium with composites, increasing penetration of lightweight materials, growing usage of titanium alloys in the high-end cars to reduce weight and to gain high strength, and desirable properties of titanium concerning corrosion resistance and thermal expansion are some of the factors behind the superior growth of titanium alloys in the market.

Based on the product type, the market is segmented as edge-welded bellows, mechanically formed bellows, electroformed bellows, and others. Edge-welded bellow is likely to remain the most dominant product type and is likely to register an excellent CAGR during the forecast period, whereas mechanically formed bellow is likely to remain the second-largest product type over the same period. Edge-welded bellows are preferred for high-temperature applications, such as aircraft engines, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, oil & gas instruments, and medical device.

Based on the end-use industry, the market is segmented as aerospace & defense, automotive, oil & gas, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, and others. Aerospace & defense is likely to remain the most dominant segment over the next five years. Despite a downfall in commercial aircraft deliveries in 2019 and the expected decline in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the market fundamentals remain strong with Both Boeing and Airbus holding huge order backlogs, translating to more than 8 years of production at the current production level. Furthermore, the development of fuel-efficient variants (B777x, B737Max, A320neo, and A330neo) and market entry of OEMs (COMAC and Irkut) in the commercial aerospace business further assure a speedy recovery.

In terms of region, Asia-Pacific is projected to remain the largest and fastest-growing market for metal bellows during the forecast period. The short-term market demand is challenging in the Asia-pacific region with China and South Korea being severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. For instance, Airbus has temporarily closed its A320 and A330 completion centers of Tianjin, China.  However, the Chinese started showing an early sign of recovery with the reopening of assembly plants by Boeing and Airbus, automotive assembly plants, etc.

North America and Europe are also projected to generate sizeable demand for metal bellows during the forecast period. The USA is the growth engine of the North American metal bellows market. The country is the hub for the aerospace industry with the presence of several aircraft OEMs, metal bellow suppliers, and raw material suppliers. Similarly, Germany, France, the UK, and Russia are the major markets in Europe.

The supply chain of this market comprises raw material suppliers, metal bellow manufacturers, tier players, and end-users. The key players in the market are Senior Plc., Freudenberg Group, EnPro Industries Inc., Witzenmann GmbH, Eaton Corporation Plc, U.S. Bellows, Inc., AESSEAL plc, Smith Group, Meggitt PLC, and MW Industries. Execution of mergers & acquisitions and the formation of collaboration with OEMs for the joint development of metal bellows are some of the strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Some of the Key Mergers& Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances in the Market:

• In 2018, Satair A/S (a company of Airbus Group) and Senior Metal Bellows extended the existing agreement (the first one was signed in 2017) to distribute all commercial aerospace aftermarket products including accumulators, bellows, thermal valves, compressors, etc. in Europe and Asia-Pacific. The agreement is extended with an aim to strengthen the distribution network outside North America.
• MW Industries, Inc. acquired Ameriflex Inc. in 2018 to further strengthen its metal bellows product portfolio along with existing companies: BellowsTech and Servometer.
• In 2015, MW Industries, Inc. acquired BellowsTech, LLC and Servometer, LLC to enter the metal bellows business and to better serve the market.

Research Methodology

This report offers high-quality insights and is the outcome of detailed research methodology comprising extensive secondary research, rigorous primary interviews with industry stakeholders and validation and triangulation with Stratview Research’s internal database and statistical tools. More than 1,000 authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, fact book, press release, journals, investor presentation, white papers, patents, and articles, have been leveraged to gather the data. We conducted 15 detailed primary interviews with the market players across the value chain in all four regions and industry experts to obtain both qualitative and quantitative insights.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

• Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis
• Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis
• Market trend and forecast analysis
• Market segment trend and forecast
• Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, Product portfolio, New product launches, etc.
• Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities
• Emerging trends
• Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players
• Key success factors

The market is segmented into the following categories:

Metal Bellows Market, By MaterialType

• Titanium Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Stainless-Steel Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Nickel Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Metal Bellows Market, By ProductType

• Edge-Welded Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Mechanically Formed Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Electroformed Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Metal Bellows Market, By End-Use IndustryType

• Aerospace & Defense(Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Automotive (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Oil & Gas (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Semiconductor (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Pharmaceutical (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others(Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Metal Bellows Market, By Region

• North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)
• Europe (Country Analysis: France, Germany, the UK, Russia, and Rest of Europe)
• Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Japan, China, India, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)
• Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America, the Middle East, and Others)

Report Customization Options

With this detailed report, Stratview Research offers one of the following free customization options to our respectable clients:

Company Profiling

• Detailed profiling of key market players (up to 3 players)
• SWOT analysis of key market players (up to 3 players)

Market Segmentation

• Current market segmentation of any one of the material types by end-use industry type.

Competitive Benchmarking

• Benchmarking of key players on the following parameters: Product portfolio, geographical reach, regional presence, and strategic alliances

Custom Research: Stratview Research offers custom research services across sectors. In case of any custom research requirement related to market assessment, competitive benchmarking, sourcing and procurement, target screening, and others, please send your inquiry at [email protected].