NEWS RELEASE                                   SEPTEMBER 2009

Asians will buy 30% of the World’s Liquid Cartridges This Year and 32% by 2012

The Asian market for liquid cartridges is the world’s largest and continuing to grow.  It will exceed $4 billion this year and will be more than $4.6 billion by 2012.  This is the latest forecast in the online Cartridge Filters: World Market published by the McIlvaine Company www.mcilvainecompany.com.

Cartridges are used to purify water and process liquids.  In Asia municipal water is often contaminated.  As the number of middle class citizens has risen rapidly so has the market for residential filters.  Non-woven cartridges remove sediment, while carbon cartridges remove chlorine.

The residential point-of-entry market this year in Asia will be $192 million, whereas the point-of-use market will be four times larger.  This includes refrigerator filters and under the sink units. The commercial market is somewhat smaller and includes purification of drinking water for office buildings, hotels, and hospitals.

Asia Cartridge Market ($ Millions)

Industry Totals:

Industry                                             2009

Chemical                                              193

Commercial – Point-of-Entry                 211

Commercial – Point-of-Use                  596

Electronics                                            354

Food                                                    185

Healthcare                                            253

Metals                                                    67

Oil & Gas                                               86

Other Industries                                    199

Pharmaceutical                                      452

Power                                                    93

Residential – Point-of-Entry                  193

Residential – Point-of-Use                    964

Wastewater                                            86

Water                                                   245

The industrial market for cartridges is growing, whereas there has been shrinkage in the U.S. and Europe.  The expansion of the electronics industry including semiconductors, flat panel displays, and memory storage accounts for some of the growth.  The pharmaceutical market is large. However, this is the one market where Asia still takes a back seat to Europe and the U.S.

Carbon cartridges are the most popular.  Membrane cartridges are the second largest category followed by non-wovens, metal and string wound. 

Asia reflects the internationalization of the industry.  Many suppliers of filtration media with home offices in Europe or the U.S. have large manufacturing operations in Asia.