Air Starter Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The air starter market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 3% during the forecast period. Factors such as increasing demand for compact starters that are compatible with operating in the harsh and highly inflammable environment are expected to drive the market across the world. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, slow down, or delay of industrial projects such as in the mining sector is likely to hinder the market growth during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• The oil & gas sector is likely to dominate during the forecast period, owing to its high investment to meet the rising energy requirement.
• The oil and gas industry is mostly dominated by countries like the United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and Iraq. But with 2019 oil and gas discoveries in other countries such as Guyana in South America and Ghana in the African region, there is expected to have ample drilling activities, which is likely to create opportunities for the air starter market to install along with the diesel engines on the drilling sites in the near future.
• North America is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period, with majority of the demand coming from the United States and Canada.

Key Market Trends

Oil & Gas Sector to Dominate the Market

• The oil & gas sector is one of the significant users of air starters, which are used in upstream sectors as a power source to supply the primary rotation to start the diesel engines.
• Unlike electrical starters, air starters generate high torque in much lower rpm and require less maintenance. Moreover, uses of electrical starters are not preferable for operations like oil & gas, where there is a continuous risk of ignition due to the presence of highly flammable gases.
• During 2018, the global upstream oil & gas segment has produced nearly 4.47 billion tonnes of crude and 3867.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas. With increasing population and urbanization, demand for oil is estimated to be around 105.4 million barrels per day by 2030. The rise in oil demand is likely to increase investment, which would boost the air starter market in the near future.
• But with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector has been negatively impacted during 2020. Various projects are canceled or delay due to low international crude oil prices and lack of workforce to operates the activities. As per industry experts, the impact is estimated to remain till 2021, and thereafter the sector would gain momentum with an increase in crude oil price.

North America to Dominate the Market

• North America is one of the leading regions that have a significant presence in the oil & gas, mining, and power generation sectors. The presence of these industries on a larger scale is estimated to have high air starter installations on gas turbines and diesel engines.
• With the increasing number of oil & gas projects in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the region is likely to witness robust growth in the coming years. The United States is one of the largest producers of crude oil and natural gas, accounting for around 15% and 21.5% of the global production, respectively, in 2018. The production surged in 2017, mainly due to robust drilling in its shale reserves, led by the Permian Basin.
• The United States has one of the largest, technically-recoverable shale gas reserves and the second-largest tight oil reserves in the world. The technological developments in hydraulic fracturing have supported the upstream oil & gas activities on the onshore region, resulting in high demand for air starter on diesel engines.
• Canada is one of the largest producers of oil and gas in the world. The oil and gas industry plays an important role in the country’s economy. Oil sands remain its primary source of hydrocarbon production, comprising over 90% of the country's total oil reserves. As per the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the oil production in the country is expected to reach 5.4 billion bbl/d in 2030, and oil sands are expected to account for 70.7% of the total production.
• Apart from oil & gas, the region has witnessed significant growth in the power and mining sector. With the increasing demand for energy and minerals, the region is likely to have investment, which would support the market to grow during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The air starter market is moderately fragmented. Some of the key players in the market include Ingersoll-Rand Plc, Maradyne Corp, The Rowland Company, Gali Group, Air Starter Components, Austart Air Starters, KH Equipment Pty Ltd, Miller Air Starter Co., Inc., Multi Torque Industries Pty Ltd, and IPU Group.

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