Posted to News on 17th Apr 2010, 20:25
Predictions for the Eastern European automation market
Ion Andronache, president of Syscom 18, a Romanian company that delivers integrated systems for industrial automation, states: "Although in 2010 the Eastern Europe market for automation and measurement systems will not be much different in volume compared to 2009, a slight increase is still possible and the competition will be tougher. As a result, the companies in the field will treat with utmost seriousness any investment project, regardless of size, and will target other business segments, less exploited so far. We expect more investments in power stations, for example."
As oil and gas consumption in 2010 will be relatively close to that of 2009, oil and gas industry investment will be similar; but the fight for gaining the projects will be more fierce. Andronache says: "We try to keep our position as a supplier and system integrator for our traditional customers - Petrom, Romgaz, Transgaz. We will be also more aggressive in other markets - power plants, water industry, pharmaceuticals, beverages, food."
The Romanian automation market, for example, which is valued at to EUR300-400million in a normal year, witnessed in 2009 a decline of approximately 25-30 per cent relative to 2008.
Andronache continues: "2009 was a year of settling the crisis, the year in which companies tried to adapt to the new market conditions. 2010 will be harder once everyone has understood the gravity of the situation. The banks will be more severe, the investment budgets will be tight, each company will try to recover debts as quickly as possible, and the foreign companies providing equipment or services will be more active in the Romanian market."
Exports for 2010
In this context, exporting has become a priority for Syscom 18 in 2010. The company proposes a total sales volume of about EUR17million, including EUR1.5-2million of exports. As in 2009, the delivery of turnkey systems will represent around 80 per cent of the total sales.
The company's latest major project, completed at the end of 2009, was the implementation of vapour recovery systems in ten tank farms belonging to Petrom OMV, the largest oil company in Romania. The project was worth millions of Euros and included integrated services: engineering, procurement, software development, installation, commissioning, testing.
Andronache concludes: "To resist the market in times of crisis and keep your customers you need to have a competitive advantage. Ours is that we are a system integrator and we better understand the applications. Unlike some other similar applications from Romania, our systems are controlled and monitored by a SCADA system. That increases reliability of the operation and allows calculations and reports to be printed as required by environmental authorities. At this point Syscom 18 is by far the most experienced company in Romania in this field, with 17 vapour recovery systems in place."
