Trends to pressures have increased steeply and valve companies have encountered cost problems

Halfway through 2011, as one of the important sub-sectors in the general machinery industry, what is happening in the valve industry and what will happen in the second half of the year? The reporter recently interviewed the Deputy General Secretary of China General Machinery Association and Song Yinli, Secretary General of the Valve Association.

The overall situation of the industry is good Song Yinli said that since the beginning of this year, the overall situation of China's valve industry has been good. Some companies have reported that there are many orders and production is busy. According to Song Yinli, this year the valve industry has made breakthroughs in two major areas. One is that the thermal power valve project is fast, and it is better to substitute for imports; the other is a breakthrough in the large ball valves of natural gas long-distance pipelines. Some companies have already signed supply contracts for large-diameter valves with PetroChina. However, there are also some companies that are worse off. Guangzhou Valve Co., Ltd. (600382), which is owned by Guangdong Pearl (600382), has always been a representative company in China's valve industry and was once one of the largest valve production bases in China. It has major projects such as Daqing Oilfield, West-East Gas Pipeline, and South-to-North Water Transfer Project. All of them use valve products from Guangdong Pearl. However, in March of this year, they said in a communique that “due to the serious shrinkage of the valve sales market, it caused serious difficulties in the production and operation of Guangzhou Valve Company in 2008. The company’s board of directors convened on August 22, 2008. The resolution on economic layoffs decided to stop the production of valves and at the same time economically lay people off. At present, the company’s operating income is mainly based on rental income such as rented houses and land.”

In July of this year, they cooperated with a real estate company and transferred to the development of the “Liankang City Plaza” with an area of ​​approximately 57,000 square meters. Guangzhou Pearl's mid-year report in 2011 showed that the group's valve operating revenue decreased by 100% from the same period of last year, and its operating profit margin decreased by 2.43% over the same period of last year. From January to June, the operating income of the valve was 210,000 yuan and the cost was 220,000 yuan. When talking about this matter, Zhang Yubao, general secretary of the China General Machinery Industry Association, said that Pearl Guang valve was once a well-known enterprise in the domestic valve industry, but later they began to diversify their expansion. Pearl Pearl Valve has not been in recent years. Focus on the valve. Song Yinli said that the Pearl Guang valve mainly produces small-diameter ball valves. He had been to the company before 1978, but he was not contacted much later. The 5th China International Fluid Machinery Exhibition 2010, held in Beijing last year, was a well-known trade show for the industry. The Mingzhu Guanghu did not come to the exhibition. Changes in Valve Sales Fields Nuclear Technology (000777) is the largest special valve development and manufacturing base and valve export company in China. It is the first listed company in China's valve industry and has always maintained a leading position in the field of special industrial valve manufacturing. Judging from their 2011 mid-term report, the company's operating income for the first half of the year was 310 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.86%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 26.14 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.95%. Although the growth rate of net profit is obviously higher than the growth rate of the company's performance, it can be seen from the statement that the once-prosperous nuclear valve business was significantly reduced in the first half of this year. In the first half of the year, the company’s nuclear power valve business income was 20.97 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 67.66%. Regarding the reasons for the decline, the company stated that “Since the production cycle of nuclear power valve products was short, all domestic nuclear power plants under construction after the Fukushima nuclear accident were shut down and re-inspected for safety, which directly led to the delay of the project progress and the related product demand was also delayed. Affected the current performance of the company's nuclear power valve business."

While the nuclear valve business has fallen drastically, CNNC’s nuclear chemical valve and its special valve products used in petroleum, petrochemical, power, and other fields have increased significantly. This is mainly due to the company’s active response to the impact of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power event. , Give full play to the company's technology and brand advantages in other traditional valve markets such as domestic petroleum, petrochemical, etc., increase market development efforts, and strive to increase valve orders. At the same time, using the opportunity of obtaining qualified certification from international oil companies to improve the competitiveness of the export valve market, the company exported 20 million yuan in the first half of the year.

The change in the field of valve sales by China National Nuclear Technology is consistent with the trend of the industry. However, Song Yinli expressed optimism about the future sales trend of nuclear valves. He said that the nuclear valve business of CNNC Technology has indeed experienced a period of decline, but in the long run, China will also develop nuclear power, and the order quantity of the nuclear valve market is relatively large. The raw material cost pressure valve is indispensable fluid control equipment such as petroleum, chemical industry, power station, long-distance pipeline, shipbuilding, nuclear industry, various cryogenic engineering, aerospace, and marine oil production. The development and needs of these industries have promoted the development of the valve industry. In recent years, with the gradual expansion of China's investment in fixed assets, the market demand for valve products has also been relatively strong. The commencement of projects such as “West-to-East Gas Transmission”, “West-to-East Electricity Transmission” and “South-to-North Water Transfer Project” require a large number of valve products; at the same time, the demand for valve products in the petrochemical industry, the power sector, the metallurgy sector, the chemical industry, and the urban construction. Also enhanced.

However, the increase in raw material prices this year has caused valve companies to feel powerless. According to data from Jiangsu Shentong Valve Co., Ltd., more than 85% of the company's product cost is raw materials, and 80% of its raw materials consist of blanks and drive units. In addition, the company's main raw material blanks and driving devices are processed from steel, and the fluctuation of steel prices will have a greater impact on the company's performance. According to the company's 2011 mid-year report, the company's operating revenue in the metallurgical industry was more than 100 million yuan, and its operating cost was more than 67 million yuan. Its operating income increased by 28.65% over the same period of the previous year, and its operating costs increased. It is higher than the income growth by more than 10% to 39.49%. From the perspective of product classification, the growth rate of operating costs in six kinds of products, including butterfly valves, ball valves, blind plate valves, and water seal check valves, is generally higher than the increase in income. In particular, the water seal check valve, operating costs increased by 59.00% over the same period last year, revenue growth was 27.06%, the cost growth is more than double the income growth. The main raw material used by another domestic valve factory is stainless steel.

In recent years, the price of stainless steel has increased by 3 to 4 times. This year, it has risen sharply. At present, the stainless steel material has increased from 20,000 yuan/ton last year to 32,000 yuan/ton, and the highest value has reached 35,000 yuan/ton. At the same time, the price of stainless steel finished castings also rose sharply, at the same time last year was 50,000 yuan / ton, currently up to 70,000 yuan / ton. In this regard, industry experts said that the general net profit of valve products is 10% to 15%, and low-pressure valves are even lower. Nowadays raw and auxiliary materials are rising rapidly, the cost of related products is rising, and energy prices are gradually being adjusted. The difficulties encountered by enterprises in the second half of the year will be even greater. Industry companies will also have a long way to go in opening up new fields of sales.