Market Outlook for 2017: Sluggish Growth with a Focus on New Realities
While the current uptick in the economy is good news to all industries, continued low oil prices and political unpredictability are making it difficult to get financing for projects, according to speakers at the 2016 VMA Market Outlook workshop in San Diego last August.
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Global Economic Outlook 2017
While there are obvious differences from country to country, one could reasonably generalize by saying that what we have today is a combination of low growth, low inflation, increasingly ineffective economic policies, and increasingly destructive politics.
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The 2017 Market Outlook: Oil & Gas, China and U.S. Dollar Are Still Top Concerns
As was the case at last year’s event, speakers and attendees at this year’s Market Outlook Workshop were consistent in their concerns about the low price of oil and the high U.S. dollar.
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U.S. and Canadian Concerns are Worldwide Concerns
During the recent meeting of the European Congress of the Valves and Taps Industry (CEIR) in Lyon, France, the 55 representatives from 11 different European nations discussed issues that closely mirror topics of concern to the valve community in the United States and Canada.
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Are We Bringing Back U.S. Jobs?
We first introduced readers to the Reshoring Initiative and its founder and president, Harry Moser, in the Winter 2013 edition of VALVE Magazine.
Cyber-Update: Attacks on Utilities and Manufacturers
The Winter 2016 issue of VALVE Magazine featured an article in which the very real threat posed by cyber criminals to infrastructure security was discussed.
Forecast for U.S. Valve Industry: No Growth Expected
By: Judy Tibbs, Editorial Consultant, VALVE Magazine
For the first time since 2009, U.S. industrial valve shipments are predicted to have almost no growth in 2016, according to the annual forecast of the Valve Manufacturers Association (VMA). VMA’s forecast indicates shipments will be up just $3 million over 2015 to be about $4.5 billion total. “Our industry crested in 2008 at about $4 billion before taking a tumble from the recession.
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Changing the Way Americans Think About Manufacturing Careers
The Valve Manufacturers Association is focusing a major effort on developing a solution to a problem that plagues this industry as well as most of the industrial world: how to find and attract talented new workers.
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NAM Monday Economic Report - November 9, 2015
Strong jobs numbers on Friday enhanced the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will begin to increase short-term interest rates in December, which was already becoming the conventional wisdom.
2016 Market Forecast: Dodging Market Strikes
Discussion of crude oil and natural gas have dominated much of the last few VMA Market Outlook Workshops and this year’s event, which was Aug. 6-7 in Chicago, was no different: Declining oil prices made it into most discussions at the workshop, and shale gas came up many times.
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