Industrial Radiography Testing Market Trends

Market Trends of Industrial Radiography Testing Industry

Aerospace and Defense to be the Largest End User

• The aerospace industry needs the highest quality standards for its products and demands nondestructive testing (NDT), such as radiography testing, for quality assurance. The exponential rise in demand for air travel worldwide drives tremendous growth in the aircraft industry. Any aircraft component built with defects and inconsistencies can result in catastrophic failures, endangering the operators' health and life as well as a considerable deal of money. As a result, radiography testing has emerged as a crucial industry component to guarantee aviation safety.
• Radiography NDT can penetrate a wide range of materials with varying densities to detect defects in joins using RT weld inspections, profile in-service systems to determine corrosion presence, perform radiography tests for casting to inspect fabrication flaws or foreign objects, and detect damage in composite materials. Radiography testing is anticipated to develop into an efficient technique for nondestructively identifying internal faults in materials and structures used in the industry due to the growing need to ensure safety.
• Additionally, in March 2023, GE Aerospace announced plans to invest more than USD 450 million in its current US manufacturing facilities, including the purchase of state-of-the-art machinery and facility upgrades to better position the business and support assembly improvements, capacity expansion, maintenance, and enhanced safety infrastructure upgrades. The market opportunities for several vendors to improve their radiography testing offerings will be enhanced by such investments in enhancing a company's manufacturing capabilities.
• In 2023, NATO reported that member countries allocated an average of 2.64 percent of their GDP for defense, slightly higher than the 2.57 percent spent in the previous year. All members of the alliance are committed to allocating a minimum of two percent of their GDP towards defense, so an increase in defense spending across countries results in market expansion.
• Furthermore, the demand for manufacturing capabilities is anticipated to increase significantly as air passenger numbers rise, necessitating the need for testing techniques. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for the entire year 2022, global traffic increased by 68.5% over pre-pandemic (2019) levels. Revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs, or total traffic, increased by 64.4% from 2021 to 2022. December 2022 saw an increase in international traffic of 80.2% over December 2021, reaching 75.1% in December 2019.

Asia Pacific is Expected to Hold Significant Market Share

• The Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow significantly in the industrial radiography testing market as all the major end-user industries of the market studied are witnessing rapid growth. The penetration of advanced manufacturing and product testing solutions is also growing as significant vendors operating in the market are expanding their global footprint, wherein quality and product safety becomes crucial for them to compete with international players.
• The growing manufacturing end-user industries such as petrochemical, oil & gas, automotive, aerospace, defense, and others are set to boost the market growth rate in the region. In February 2022, PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company launched its transformation and upgrading project. The project includes constructing 21 new facilities, such as the 1.2Mt/ethylene unit, renovating nine facilities, and shutting down seven facilities. The project is facilitative to the high-quality development of CNPC's petrochemical and refining business, an extension of the local petrochemical industry chain, and the revitalization of Northeast China.
• Furthermore, India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) stated that the aerospace industry is growing significantly due to the rising activities from the defense and civil aviation sectors. With the increasing need for large aircraft from Indian carriers such as SpiceJet and Indigo and the focus on powered-by-hour contracts (PBH), many of India's aerospace services and manufacturing actions are anticipated to be carried out. Similarly, as India's defense capital expenditure spending continuously grows, there are also many opportunities in defense aerospace. 
• This offers opportunities for start-ups as well as further evolution for existing players. The Indian aerospace & defense (A&D) market is projected to reach around USD 70 billion by 2030, driven by the burgeoning need for advanced infrastructure and government thrust.
• The rise of industrialization in Asian countries, especially India, China, and Japan, will drive the market for industrial radiography testing devices. According to IBEF, India has the potential to become a global manufacturing hub. By 2030, the country can add more than USD 500 billion yearly to the global economy, which will create demand in the studied market.
• The increase in industrial manufacturing and the adoption of Industry 4.0 creates a demand for radiography testing techniques in the region. For instance, according to the data from IBEF, the Government of India has set an ambitious target of increasing manufacturing output contribution to 25% of the GDP by 2025 from 16%. The Smart Advanced Manufacturing and Rapid Transformation Hub (SAMARTH) Udyog Bharat 4.0 initiative aim to enhance awareness about Industry 4.0 within the Indian manufacturing industry. Such initiatives are expected to drive the market.