Trends in the markets for Power Engineering

In 2018, we expect the market environment in power engineering to remain difficult, with undiminished competitive and price pressures.

In 2018, the market volume for two-stroke engines used in merchant shipping is likely to slightly exceed the level seen in the reporting period. Calls for greater energy efficiency and low pollutant emissions will continue to have a significant influence on ship designs in the future. We also expect sustained high demand in the market for four-stroke engines used in cruise ships, ferries, dredgers and government vessels. In the offshore segment, new order volumes look set to be very low due to existing overcapacity, despite the recent slight rise in the oil price. Overall, we expect the marine market to be slightly up on the reporting period. The competitive pressure will continue unabated.

Demand for energy correlates strongly with macroeconomic and demographic trends, especially in emerging markets. The global trend toward decentralized power stations and gas-based applications shows no sign of losing momentum. For 2018, we expect demand to be virtually steady but remain at a low level overall.

In turbomachinery, we anticipate undiminished high price and competitive pressures in 2018 due to the continuing difficult market environment. This is due to expectations that unfavorable economic and political conditions will persist in some relevant markets. We believe that the trend has already bottomed out, however, and therefore expect the market for turbomachinery to return to slight growth in 2018.

We anticipate a positive trend in the marine and power plant after-sales business for diesel engines in 2018. In turbomachinery, we expect a slight upward trend.

For the period 2019 to 2022, we expect to see growing demand in the power engineering markets. The extent and timing of this growth will vary in the individual business fields, however.