Due to the booming residential market, the sales of carbon cartridges to purify drinking water will exceed $6 billion worldwide in 2009, according to the latest forecast in the online McIlvaine report, Cartridge Filters: World Markets.
The total cartridge market in 2009 will exceed $14 billion. Non-woven cartridges will account for $4 billion while membrane cartridge sales will be $3.5 billion. Metal and string-wound segments are relatively small, according to the McIlvaine Co.
The biggest use of carbon cartridges is at point-of-use in residences. Less than 20% are used for point-of-entry filtration. Residential is the largest application, followed by commercial and institutional. The pharmaceutical industry is a major purchaser. Healthcare is also a large segment. The chemical and food industries use large numbers of cartridges for process applications.
The two largest suppliers of cartridges, Pall and Millipore, concentrate on the higher value process applications and are not major players in the residential and commercial segments.
The leading purchasers of carbon filters by geographical region in 2009 will be the U.S and China. The sizable Chinese market is a combination of poor drinking water quality and the rapid growth of a middle class with the ability to make the purchases.
Asia will be the fastest growing region. Sales of cartridges for semiconductor, flat panel display and hard disk drive facilities will grow at double-digit rates in Asia over the next five years.
Source: McIlvaine Co.