China is the hot market for water and wastewater treatment chemicals. Wastewater treatment is being rapidly applied in urban areas. This is positively impacting the market for polymers and even odor control chemicals. The power plant sector is one of the other big growth sectors. China has recently accelerated plans to build coal-fired power plants. It now expects to have 350,000 MW in place by 2010 and 500,000 MW by 2020. This means that the water and wastewater treatment chemicals market in power will be bigger in China than in the U.S.

China is also planning to remove the SO₂ from power plant stack gases with 330,000 MW of scrubber systems. These, in turn, will require defoamers, scale control, polymers, and other chemicals.

The drought throughout the southwest U.S. is encouraging more communities to look at water reclamation. Water treatment chemicals play a key role in bringing wastewater back to the condition where it can be used for golf courses and other gray water functions.

The world market for twelve classes of water and wastewater treatment chemicals will expand from $16.4 billion in 2003 to $18.4 billion in 2006, according to the McIlvaine Company. In its continually updated online report, Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals: World Market, a new category has been added. The market for odor control chemicals is growing faster than that for flocculants, corrosion inhibitors, and the other chemical types. Consequently, McIlvaine is now forecasting this segment separately and not as part of the miscellaneous category. The world odor control chemical market is projected to rise from $541 million in 2003 to $621 million in 2006. Municipal wastewater plants will purchase nearly half of the total followed by the food industry as the second largest purchasing segment. Odor complaints and resultant control are highest in the richest countries but many countries are instituting reduction programs.

For more information on this report and databases tracking power and wastewater projects click on www.mcilvainecompany.com .

Bob McIlvaine

847-784-0012