SOFT STARTER MARKET ANALYSIS

The global soft starter market size was valued at US$ 2,386.5 million in 2022 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.23% from 2023 to 2030. The growth of global soft starter market is attributed rise in adoption in industrial pumps, rise in demand for HVAC control systems, and growing need for cost effective solutions with minimal space requirements. Moreover, increasing expenditure on R&D proficiencies, with growing focus on energy conservation; and increasing automation across various industry is also anticipated to boost growth of the market over the forecast period.

Global Soft Starter Market: Regional Insights

Among regions, North America is projected to show significant growth in the global soft starter market during the forecast period, owing to growing adoption of soft starters across several industries such as mining and meta, oil and gas, power, and energy among others. Moreover, the region is headquarter for some of the major vendors in the market including Benshaw Inc. and Rockwell Automation Inc. Furthermore, increasing number of market vendors are focusing on various growth strategies, such as merger and acquisition, which is also expected to drive growth of the global soft starter market during the forecast period. For instance, in December 2019, Benshaw Inc. announced to acquire Aucom Electronics. Ltd., a soft starter manufacturer. Thus, these factors are expected to drive growth of the market across the region over the forecast future.

Furthermore, Asia Pacific is expected to gain major share in the global soft starter market during the forecast period. This can be due to rise in industrialization across developing nations in the region, such as India and China among others. The growth industries such as power and cement is growing in the region, which in turn is likely to drive the demand for soft starters. The adoption of industrial automation is increasing in the region due to its advantages, which is also expected to augment the demand for start starters in the various industrial automation applications. These factors are likely to boost growth of the market across Asia Pacific in the coming future.

Figure 1: Global Soft Starter Market Share (%), By Region, 2022

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Global Soft Starter Market Drivers:

Growing demand for industrial pumps to boost the market pace

The use of soft starters in different types of equipment such as centrifuges, industrial pumps and conveyors allows the slow start and slow stop of systems. Using these starters can prevent the mechanical shock, like water hammer. Thus, increasing growth of industrial pumps is likely to drive the demand for soft starters. The adoption of industrial pumps is increasing among various end user industries that deal with chemicals, water, wastewater, petroleum, food, slurry, sludge, or oil, owing to their resistivity toward various harmful chemicals as well as their durability. The demand for industrial pump is also growing due to rise in deliverable pressure in terms of time. Thus, this in turn is expected to positively impact the global soft starter market during the forecast period.

Growing HVAC equipment demand to augment the market pace

The use of soft starter in HVAC equipment offers improvement in efficiency and longevity, as it reduces the inrush current required to start compressors by 60%. This in turn minimizes potential damage to compressors from mechanical shock hard-starting current surges. The HVAC equipment market is growing in the developing countries due to rise in applications in end user market, such as data center, construction business and others. The continuously increasing growth of HVAC equipment market is further driving the demand for soft starters, which in turn is expected to propel growth of the global soft starter market over the forecast period.

Global Soft Starter Market Opportunities:

Growing focus on improvement of utility factors in the existing products is expected to offer various growth opportunities in the global soft starter market during the forecast period. The growing innovation in the soft starter market are focused on enhancing the utility factor of products and improvement in the performance of these existing products along with development of capabilities, that will boost their applications in niche markets. With growing use of AC and DC motors, the industry continues to transform in the energy and utility segment. These factors thus are likely to create growth opportunities in the market over the coming years.

Rise in adoption of industrial automation due to its various advantages is projected to bring various business opportunities in the global soft starter market during the forecast period. Industrial automation offers various benefits such as, reduced direct human labor cost, delivery of high-quality products, rise in productivity, and improved consistency of products or processes. This in turn creates demand for soft starters needed for electric motors in various industrial automation applications. Thus, growing industrial automation will bring in multiple opportunities in the global soft starter market during the forecast period.

Global Soft Starter Market Trends:

Growing demand for electrical energy is a recent trend in the market

The demand for electrical energy is growing for sustaining the global development, and it needs constant major investments to generate power supply, which is driving the applications of motors in the electricity segment. This further positively impacts the soft starters. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration 2019, forecaster that the consumption of energy across the globe is likely to increase by nearly 50% during 2018 to 2050. Thus, this trend is expected to drive growth of the global soft starter market during the forecast period.

Increasing government regulations and policies to control CO2 emissions is a growing trend

Increasing number of governments and supervisory bodies are announcing appropriate regulations and policies in order to control CO2 emissions and to cater the growing demand for electricity, specifically in developing economies. This in turn is driving the demand for soft starters to reduce the overall costs including maintenance and repair costs, and so boosting the overall efficiency. Various industries are increasingly adopting soft starters, and this is expected to augment growth of the global soft starter market over the forecast period.

Global Soft Starter Market Restraints:

Growing penetration of various alternatives to obstruct the market pace

Various alternatives to soft starters, such as variable frequency drives (VFD) are increasingly penetrating the market. Soft starters are utilized for reducing power supplied at start-up, while variable frequency drives can also be used as an alternative to soft starter for ensuring performance improvement, energy saving, reduction in downtime, and system simplification. Thus, availability of such potential alternatives is expected to hinder growth of the global soft starter market during the forecast period.

Limited control and accuracy of soft starters to impede market growth

Soft starters are widely used in various industries including energy and utility, water and wastewater treatment, automotive, and oil and gas; as they offer various advantages. Using motor soft starters is mostly an economical option. However, these starters offer limited control over the speed of motors. Moreover, soft starters also have limited accuracy, and these factors further impact their adoption, which is likely to obstruct growth of the global soft starter market during the forecast period. However, with increasing technological advancements, the vendors are focusing on offering soft starters with enhanced features, which is expected to aid in growth of the market in the near future.       

Global Soft Starter Market Segmentation:

The global soft starter market report is segmented into End User Industry.

Based on End User Industry, the market is segmented into Mining and Metal, Food and Beverage, Energy and Power, Oil and Gas, and Other End user Industries. Out of which, Mining and Metal is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the growing adoption of soft starters in the industry for enhancing productivity, smooth operation, energy efficiency, and other purposes. Moreover, acquisition in the industry are driving the demand for the soft starter in the mining and metal industry. For instance, in December 2019, Benshaw Inc. acquired Aucom Electronics Ltd. and with this acquisition, the company will offer a long range of low and medium voltage soft starters.

Food and Beverage segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the various application of soft starters in the industry among various others. Soft starters used in the processing phase of this industry address demanding and unique needs in the segment such as meat, poultry and fish, baking goods, and dairy. Thus, use of soft starter in the food and beverage sector is expected to drive growth of the market in the near future.

Figure 1: Global Soft Starter Market Share (%), By End User, 2022

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Global Soft Starter Market: Key Developments

In June 2020, Siemens entered into partnership with Danish customer, Semco Maritine for providing the novel electrical equipment for the electrical service platform (ESP) of Mayflower Wind LLC. The location of this project is in a federal lease region, which is nearly 25 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, in the U.S.

In June 2020 Schneider Electric SE, introduced its expanded E-commerce platform, which will host various B2B products of the company including the whole home products range. With this launch, the company aims to support its partners and customers source products digitally.

In February 2020, Aucom Electronics Ltd. made an addition to its range of soft starters with the launch of EMX4 advanced soft starter, which is a small size starter with smart protection and motor control features.

In March 2020, Aucom Electronics Ltd. announced the launch of CSXi series of low voltage soft starters, which are compact, and offer simplified installation along with safeguard motor operation of three phases.

Global Soft Starter Market: Key Companies Insights

The global soft starter market is highly competitive. This is attributed to continuous launch of new technologies due to ongoing R &D and efforts by value chain participants. Moreover, key players are adopting various business growth strategies in order to expand their presence on regional as well as global basis.

Some of the key players in the global soft starter market are Siemens AG, Aucom Electronics Ltd (Benshaw Inc.), Schneider Electric SE, IGEL Electric GmbH, Eaton Corporation PLC, Crompton Greaves Ltd., ABB Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, Rockwell Automation Inc., Fairford Electronics Inc. (Motortronics UK Ltd), and Danfoss Group.

*Definition: Soft starters are solid-state devices that offer protection to AC electric motors against damage occurring from sudden power influxes, as they limit the large initial current inrush related to motor startup. A soft starter also provides a mild ramp up to full speed and is used at startup.