China grabs lion's share of global transformer capacity additions

But tables are about to turn by 2020.

According to GlobalData's latest report, China accounted for 89% of global transformer capacity additions in 2014 – substantial Transmission and Distribution (T&D) investment is the major driver for growth. However, with other developing countries increasing their transformer capacity share, China’s share is expected to drop during the forecast period. China’s share in global transformer capacity addition is expected to be 40% by 2020.

In China, the report further said, focus has been placed on increasing installed capacity in order to meet the growing electricity demand.

Here's more from GlobalData:

However, investment in the transmission segment has not increased at the same pace. This changed in the 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans (FYP), which contain plans for heavy investment in strengthening the grid.

Although the global power transformers market is highly fragmented, the leading seven companies accounted for more than 57% of the market in 2014. ABB led the market with a 15.1% market share, followed by Siemens with 10.1% and TWBB with 8.9%.

Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock accounted for a 8.1% share, while Alstom accounted for a share of 7%. Local Asian companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Xi'an XD Transformer also had good market shares, accounting for 4.7% and 4% respectively in 2014.

North America, Western Europe, India and China are major hubs for power transformer manufacturing due to high demand in these regions. A number of regional companies are involved in the domestic manufacture of medium and large power transformers and are dominant players at a local level, yet account for only a small fraction of the global market. Examples of such players are Bharat Heavy Electricals in India and Mitsubishi Electrical Corporation in Japan.

The increased participation of local companies has made the market competitive for traditionally dominant players such as ABB, Siemens and Alstom.