Subject: Market For Clarifiers, Centrifuges, and Cyclones
Biotechnology and municipal wastewater spending is boosting sales of sedimentation and centrifugation equipment.
Worldwide sales of sedimentation and centrifugation equipment will rise from $4.66 billion in 2004 to $5.4 billion in 2007. The biotechnology and wastewater sectors will contribute disproportionately to the growth. This is the conclusion reached in the latest revision to the online report Sedimentation and Centrifugation: World Markets published by the McIlvaine Company.
Clarifiers (including thickeners) will remain the largest equipment segment accounting for 44 percent of the total in 2007. Disk centrifuges will account for 17 percent. Decanter centrifuges will be next at 11 percent followed by “other centrifuges”, dissolved air flotation, and hydrocyclones.
Clarifiers and thickeners are used in many different industries from foundries to mines. Disk centrifuges find primary applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. They are an important separation step in many biotechnology operations. Decanter centrifuges are widely used for drying sewage sludge and separating chemical products. Dissolved air flotation is used for deinking recycled paper and for water treatment. Hydrocyclones are found in the minerals industry for particle separation, but they are also used in many other industries. Basket centrifuges (included in “other centrifuges”) are used in the sugar industry and other food applications. They are also used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Asia will be the fastest growing region. Municipal wastewater expenditures are accelerating due to the growing prosperity and lack of present infrastructure. More importantly, the urbanization of China and other countries requires levels of investment in sewage treatment not required in a rural economy. A number of European and U.S. suppliers of sedimentation and centrifugation equipment have set up operations in China. Asian purchases of this equipment in the wastewater sector will rise from $400 million this year to just under $500 million in 2007. Totals for individual equipment types are as follows:
Asian Municipal Wastewater Sales $ Millions
Subject 2004 2007
Clarifier 303 365
DAF 27 33
Decanter 72 89
Hydrocyclone 3 4
Consolidation and ownership change has accelerated over the last five years. Andritz recently acquired Bird Machine adding more than $70 million in annual sales revenue. Less than two years ago GLV acquired Eimco. This new consolidation activity further consolidates an industry which was already consolidating. For example, Bird had previously acquired R & B, a German filtration company. So now an Austrian company owns an American company which owns a German company.
While there are few remaining companies supplying centrifuges, there are still thousands of companies supplying clarifiers. The numbers of companies supplying hydrocyclones and dissolved air flotation is in the hundreds.
The report analyzes market shares and sales for major participants. Revenue forecasts for each product in each industry are displayed for each of the next five years. The basic factors used in forecasting are also provided. These are critical to understanding the forecasts. For example, the forecast for decanter centrifuges in Taiwan is a function of the ratio of decanters to belt filter presses which will be used for dewatering. It is a function of the percentage of secondary treatment plants which will use dewatering equipment. It is a function of the number of new secondary plants which will be built in Taiwan each year. All these factors are provided so that the value of the forecasts is enhanced.
For more information on Sedimentation and Centrifugation World Markets http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/water.html#n005 .
Bob McIlvaine
847-784-0012