Data Center Piping Market to Reach USD 4.50 Billion by 2035 as Liquid-Cooled AI Halls Push Piping Content to USD 190,000 per MW

DC Market Insights estimates the data center piping market at USD 1.60 billion in 2026, up 37.12% year over year, and projects USD 4.50 billion by 2035, a 14.42% CAGR from 2025. Liquid-cooling secondary loops and rack manifolds are forecast to grow 24.47% annually, while piping content for liquid-cooled AI halls is about USD 190,000 per MW versus USD 70,000 for air-cooled halls. North America accounts for 42.0% of 2025 spending; the report identifies Asia Pacific as the fastest-growing major region at a 15.91% CAGR.

Analysis

The investable signal is not the forecast’s 14% market CAGR; it is whether liquid-cooling complexity shifts value toward suppliers that can qualify clean-loop systems, prefab manifolds and commission reliably. That favors differentiated system suppliers such as Georg Fischer (GF) and nVent (NVT), and could let Vertiv (VRT) bundle flushing and related services rather than leave value with commodity pipe vendors. But a fragmented market with low supplier concentration also implies limited pricing power: growth in piping spend does not automatically translate into outsized margins or earnings for any one name. The report’s market values are estimates, and its forecast partly reflects steel prices, so nominal growth may overstate volume growth. Its assumptions on AI capacity and liquid-cooling penetration are the key sensitivities, not independent evidence of orders. The 24.47% CAGR for secondary loops is more relevant than the headline total, but remains a small-base forecast. Near term, supplier commentary and order conversion matter more than this report. Over 1–3 months, monitor data-center order intake, backlog and segment disclosures for GF, NVT, VRT and Perma-Pipe International Holdings (PPIH); over 6–18 months, watch whether liquid-ready builds become standard and whether prefabrication improves installation economics. Contrarian risk: direct-to-chip adoption may rise while piping suppliers capture less of the spend than the per-MW estimate implies, especially if standardized modules intensify competition. No valuation or company-level revenue exposure is provided, so avoid treating the forecast as an earnings upgrade.

Key Decisions for Investors

• No immediate thematic position on the report alone. Treat it as a diligence lead, not a catalyst: the estimate is third-party research and does not establish supplier revenue or margins.
• Watch GF and NVT for confirmation in data-center orders, backlog and liquid-cooling product sales before considering a relative long against diversified industrial exposure; enter only after company disclosures validate conversion. Falsify if order growth stalls or management commentary points to delayed AI construction.
• Track VRT for evidence that liquid-cooling services and commissioning add repeatable revenue and margin, rather than merely expanding its product bundle. Reassess if service growth fails to accompany cooling-system demand.
• Keep PPIH on an alert list, not a conviction long: verify plant utilization, customer/order concentration, cash generation and data-center revenue contribution before acting. A lease or capacity announcement alone does not establish profitable demand.