Cartridges are used for a range of applications from filtering blood to purifying boiler feed. They are used in thousands of applications in every country of the world. The market has hovered around $4.3 billion over the last several years but is now positioned for substantial growth. By 2007 sales will exceed $6 billion. This forecast is included in the continually updated Cartridge Filters: World Market published by the McIlvaine Co.
The recent stagnation was caused by downturns in the electronics, chemical and metals industries. As these industries return to normal growth rates and the high growth continues in the food, health care, pharmaceutical and biotech segments growth will exceed 7 percent per year.
Sales of cartridges to the chemical industry are still below the 2000 peak levels. China and Korea were two of only a few countries where sales of cartridges for chemical applications grew over the last several years. However, sales in this segment will grow by 3 percent per year over the next four years to $548 million.
The pharmaceutical segment is the largest and will enjoy the largest revenue growth. Revenues in this sector will exceed $1.5 billion in 2007. The second largest segment is the healthcare segment and will account for 15 percent of the total sales in 2007. The food industry and municipal water treatment each will account for 8 percent of the market in 2007. The electronics segment will rebound and also account for more than 8 percent of the total market. By 2007 there will be a number of 12" diameter wafer plants in operation and under construction. These plants will require higher efficiency and more expensive cartridges to filter the rinse water.
Membrane cartridges are gaining in popularity and already generate more revenue than non-woven, string wound, carbon, and metal combined. Membrane cartridges find substantial use in the pharmaceutical industry for process separation applications as well as fluid purification. Pall and Millipore are major suppliers of membrane cartridges. GE is a new entrant as a result of its purchase of Osmonics. Companies who are primarily in the flow control business (pumps, valves, etc.) are acquiring cartridge companies. ITT and Pentair are two such examples. Despite the entry of some large companies the industry continues to be fragmented. More than 1000 companies manufacture cartridges. However, the suppliers of media are much fewer in number. Large suppliers such as BBA and a dozen others supply the majority of the media.
Market growth through 2007 will be greatest in Asia. In fact, by 2007 four of the top 10 purchasers will be Asian countries. The projected 2007 rankings in terms of cartridge purchases by country are as follows.
1. United States
2. Japan
3. China
4. Germany
5. United Kingdom
6. France
7. India
8. Italy
9. South Korea
10. Mexico
World Market continually displays and adjusts more than 40,000 forecasts including eleven industry segments for 80 countries and sub regions. Separate forecasts are provided in each segment for carbon, membrane, metal, non-woven, and stringwound cartridges. The report also includes a networking directory with details of more than 500 cartridge filter and media manufacturers.
Source: McIlvaine Co.
