Asia drives the Ultrapure Water Market
Asia is where all the action is in the ultrapure water industry (UPW). In just twelve months China ordered 100,000 MW of coal-fired power plants. This means investments in UPW systems equal to one third of the entire U.S coal-fired base. In just one year China committed to more UPW investment than the U.S. has in the last 30 years.
Flat panel displays and memory storage are two areas where most of the UPW purchases are in Asia. South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are major manufacturers of flat panel displays. These plants require huge UPW systems. In fact, the largest flat panel display UPW systems are even larger than the largest semiconductor systems.
In memory storage, the industry is poised for growth in excess of 20 percent this year. Manufacturing of hard disk drives takes place in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand. In fact, exports of hard disk drives accounts for over 3 percent of Thailand’s GDP.
China is starting to siphon off some of the new investment in disk drive plants and is rapidly becoming a major purchaser of UPW systems.
Forecasts for the markets for UPW systems, components, and consumables such as membranes and resins are contained in the McIlvaine report, Ultrapure Water: World Markets, http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/water.html#N029 .
Continual tracking of power plant projects is provided in World Power Generation Projects, http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/energy.html#40A .
Pharmaceutical, semiconductor, flat panel display, memory storage and other projects are provided in World Cleanroom Projects, http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/cleanroom.html#80A
Bob McIlvaine
847-784-0012