Frost: Latin America Sees Extensive Adoption of Low Voltage Drives
December 20, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
Increasing awareness of its ability to save energy and enhanced production process performance benefits among end-users is powering the demand for low voltage drives in Latin America.
According to Frost & Sullivan, companies across all verticals are increasingly adopting low voltage drives to reduce energy costs, as countries in this region are falling short of energy infrastructure and lack investments.
Recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan of the Latin American low voltage drives markets found earned revenues of $223.1 million in 2006, with estimates to reach $359.5 million in 2012.
Complex applications in many industries, including heavy commodities exporters, are increasingly using low voltage drives as a way to gain efficiency, mainly for mid-range and high-end drives.
Analysts said increasing industry awareness of high-end segments furthers progressive adoption of low voltage drives.
"At present, low voltage DC [direct current] drives are used mainly by the more traditional industrial segments, such as wire and conductors factories, metal industries, cement companies, agriculture and pulp and paper companies in countries such as Mexico and Argentina," said Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Alejandra Etcharrán.
"Although end-users are expected to begin migrating to AC [alternating current] technology, low voltage DC drives are still required for the replacement or performance improvement of older machines by companies that are yet not willing to invest in updating their infrastructure and acquiring AC motors."
There have been promising sales in the Latin American low voltage drives market with the great majority of units sold being micro drives, mainly due to its affordable prices and short life cycle. Analysts said the low-end segment contributed substantially with a large parcel of total units sold in 2006.
Analysts said increasing competition has resulted in price reduction, especially in the micro and low-end drives. The presence of a local manufacturer that benefits from tax exemption - WEG - and the decreasing exchange rates pressure prices downward. Participation of Asian companies is further intensifying competition. As a result, prices among competitors have become similar, making it hard for companies to profit from sales.
Political and economic instabilities inherent to the region are likely to postpone infrastructure investments of companies.
"Participants can benefit from concentrating their efforts toward the mid-range and high-end segments that are expected to have higher growth rates," said Etcharrán. "They must aim at developing specialized portfolios and specific solutions for each vertical, selling the whole solution including equipment other than drives."
As end-users are greatly demanding local technical support for repairing broken equipment or solving malfunctions, analysts said participants can also strengthen their position in the market by offering faster response and improved technical support to end-users, which will help achieve higher customer loyalty.
"The low voltage drives market in Latin America is also witnessing another trend, whereby companies are striving for large contracts and dominance by verticals through strategic marketing and distribution campaigns," Etcharrán said.
As market participants do not cover all countries, distributors play an important role in the market and most companies implement regular training and seminars for their distributors to ensure the best client support. Analysts said this helps achieve better branding and aids in sustaining market shares.
Source: Frost & Sullivan.