U.S. Continues to be Biggest Market for Medium Efficiency Air Filters
The U.S. purchases of medium efficiency air filters will rise to $1.3 billion in
2012 and will remain the largest market. China will be a distant second with
purchases of $344 million. These numbers are reflected in the most recent update
to Air Filtration and Purification World Markets, an online service of the
McIlvaine Company (www.mcilvainecompany.com
Medium Efficiency Air Filter Sales ($ Millions)
Country 2012
United States 1,310
China 344
Japan 234
Germany 130
United Kingdom 103
France 98
India 96
South Korea 90
Russia 87
Italy 81
Brazil 71
Spain 65
Taiwan 53
The U.S will account for 37 percent of the world market in 2012 in this rapidly
growing market segment. Both residential and commercial customers are upgrading
from low efficiency low cost glass media filters to the higher performance
filters with synthetic media. The market for these filters has been negatively
impacted by the recession and the reduction in housing starts, but the market
share gains have offset the total filter demand reduction in the short-term.
Filtration of the intake air for gas turbines accounts for a significant segment
of the market in Europe and the U.S. It is less of a factor in Asia where the
reliance is on coal-fired electricity generation. The U.S. market peaked in 2001
and then tumbled as the price of natural gas soared. Recently the exploitation
of shale gas has reinvigorated the turbine market in the U.S. This is leading to
increased sales of not only medium efficiency filters but low efficiency and
even high efficiency filters as well. Low efficiency filters frequently precede
medium efficiency filters. They are inexpensive and can be replaced every few
months. This extends the life of the down-stream medium efficiency filters.
Self cleaning filters are gaining popularity for gas turbine applications where
higher dust loads are anticipated. The new high performance turbines and the
awareness of the importance of air cleanliness are leading to the installation
of high efficiency filters down stream of the medium efficiency ones.
The market for low efficiency filters will be static. Unit sales will be down
while revenues will be up slightly due to price increases. The market for high
efficiency filters will grow significantly in Asia in the coming decade as the
semiconductor, flat panel display and other electronic purchasers expand
facilities in this region. The U.S. will continue to be the leading purchaser of
high efficiency filters for pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications.
The supplier industry is re-orienting to adjust to world conditions and
marketing realities. The big retailers are becoming stronger relative to their
suppliers. As a result, one of the major suppliers has elected to downsize in
the retail sector and focus on commercial and industrial applications. Another
has taken the opposite approach and is downsizing in the industrial segment and
working with the big retailers to gain market share in the residential segment.
For more information on Air Filtration and Purification Markets, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/air.html#n022.
Bob McIlvaine
847-784-0012 ext. 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com