Market for filtering liquids in China

is growing at 11% per year

The market in China for filters to purify liquids is growing at 11 percent per year and is already larger than that in any country of the world except the U.S.  The McIlvaine Company is providing detailed forecasts of each segment of this market.  Here are the product purchases by China for 2005 in millions of U.S. dollars:

 China Filtration Markets 2005 ($ millions)

Cartridges

  Carbon                                698

  Membrane                           178

  Metal                                    54

  Non woven                         334

  String wound                         40

     Sub-total                       1,304

Membranes

  Microfiltration                      263

  Reverse osmosis                  388

  Ultrafiltration                        282

     Sub-total                          933

Macrofilters

   Automatic back wash            79

   Bag                                       87

   Belt filter press                    124

   Drum                                    80

   Filter Press                          130

   Granular media                    204

   Leaf and belt                         93

      Sub-total                          797

Total                                   3,034

The large carbon cartridge market is the result of a middle class segment of over 100 million people who are not content with the water quality from municipal sources and are buying point-of-use or point-of-entry filters.  The size of the membrane cartridge market is relatively small due to the smaller size of the pharmaceutical industry in China compared to the U.S.

The surprisingly low size of the reverse osmosis market (despite the purchases for homes) is the embryonic state of desalination.  Microfiltration and ultrafiltration of drinking water at central treatment facilities is poised to grow rapidly but is presently at low levels.  Industrial markets are already booming.  Ultrafiltration and microfiltration are used in food and chemical processing.

The macrofilter market is the largest in the world due to purchases by the chemical, metal, mining, and municipal wastewater treatment industries.  Wastewater treatment facilities in planning our under construction will require more than 1000 belt filter presses.                 

McIlvaine publishes separate reports on cartridges, membranes, and macrofilters.  For more information on these reports, click on “water” at: www.mcilvainecompany.com .

Bob McIlvaine

847-784-0012