反渗透膜市场报告


 ByRandyTrubyR.L.Truby&AssociatesForthepasttwoyears,theglobalreverseosmosis/nanofiltration(RO/NF)membranemarkethasbeengrowingslowlyintermsofdollarssoldperyear.Theestimatedworldmarketin2002wasapproximately$320million.In2003,salesareestimatedatalmostthesamelevel,reachingapproximately$337mil-lion.Chart1showstheglobalbreak-downofRO/NFmembranesalesin2003byregion.Themarkettrendisthereforeflattoslightlyupoverthelast24months.Therearesignsthattheworldecon-omiesarebeginningtoimprove.Ifthisisasustainabletrendandcontinues,RO/NFmembranegrowthshouldreturntotheratesseeninthelate1990sand2000sof5%to10%peryear.Membranemanufac-turersandtheirsuppliersarenowplan-ningforjustsuchanincreaseindemand.TheworldmarketforRO/NFmem-braneisprimarilymadeupofsalesofspiralwoundelementscontainingsomevarietyofthinfilmcompositemem-brane.Ninety-onepercent(91%)ofthemarketplaceisrepresentedbythesespi-ralwoundelements,predominantlyinan8-inchX40-inch(8X40)productconfigurationorsomevariationthatcanbemeasuredasequivalentsofthe8X40.Theremainingmarketconsistsof5%ofsalesfromhollow-fiberdevicesand/orcellulosicmembranes,and4%ofsalesfromsheetmembranes.MarketGrowthandDriversThedominationofthemarketbyspiral-woundelementsovertimehasbecomeadefacto“standardization”.Thisstan-dardizationhasservedthemarketwellasitallowsendusersanddistributorstoshopfornewmembranesalmostonacommoditybasis.Thismarketstructureandcompetitionhasloweredthecostofmembranestoendusers.LowerRO/NFmembranecostandpriceshavemadetheuseofmembranesincreasinglycosteffectiveasamethodofsaltandimpu-rityremovalfromwater.Technicalinnovationsintheperfor-mancepropertiesofRO/NFmembraneshaveresultedinveryefficientremovaloftroublesomeionicspeciessuchassilica,nitrate,andboron.Organicsandnon-ionizedimpuritiesarealsoeasilyremoved.Theseperformanceben-efitscoupledwiththeprovenabil-ityofthemembranestoremovethevarioussaltsandmineralsoftenfoundinfeedwatersaroundtheworldhaveincreasedtheapplica-tionswheremembranescaneco-nomicallybeapplied.Otherfactorscontributingtothenear-termgrowthinRO/NFmem-branesalesinclude:●Militarypurchasesformem-branesusedinmobiledesalinators(ROWPU)systemshasexceeded$15millioninthelast12months.Thisisasignificantupturnafteryearsoflimitedpurchases.●Semiconductormanufacturersareincreasingmaintenancespend-ingafteraperiodofdelayedpur-chasesofreplacementmembrane.●Municipalprojectsthatweredelayedforthelasttwoyearsarenowmovingforwardagain.Largeprojectsforseawaterdesalinationandwastewaterreclamationsystemsareproceeding.NewversusReplacementsStandardizationprovidessecuritythatifacatastrophicfailureoccurs,userscanfirstlooktotheirprimarysupplierforreplacementRO/NFmembraneandifthisdoesnotmeettheirneeds,theusercangotoasmanyasfivecompetitorsasanalternativesourceofsupply.Inmanycases,thecompetitiveproductsarein-terchangeableanddonotevenrequireadapterstoconnecttotheexistingpres-surevessels.Replacementsmakeupapproximate-ly60%oftheannualsalesofRO/NFmembrane.ReplacementmembranesareloadedintoanRO/NFsystemthatwasinstalledsometimeinthepastandreplacementoftheoriginalmembraneisrequiredbecauseofaging.AstheRO/NFmarkethasmatured,thepercentageofreplacementmembranesaleshasgrown.RO/NFmembranelifetimehas)**+,'--,)-)$+.&/0AuthorRandyTruby
 exceededexpectations.Originally,RO/NFmembraneswereexpectedtorequirereplacementin3to5years.Thecurrentiterationofthin-filmcompositepolyamidemembranesinaspiralwoundelementislastingform7to12years.Boththequalityanddurabilityofthemembranedeviceshasimproved,ashastheknowledgeofhowtoengineerandoperatethesystemsintowhichthemembranesareinstalled.RO/NFCompetitionRO/NFmembranetechnologyfirstachievedcommercialsuccessinthelate1960s.Sincethattime,thecompetitorshaveevolvedandchangedwiththeimprovingtechnology.Todaytherearetwocompetitorswithdominantmarketsharepositions,followedbyagroupofmanufacturerswithsmallersharesandanemergingnumberofKoreanandChineseproducers.Chart2providesestimatesofthe2003RO/NFmembranesalesbycompetitor.FromKorea,Saehanhasemergedasaviablecompetitor.Theyhavegonethroughsomegrowthpainsandre-organiza-tionastheyenteredthemarket.However,todaytheyappearstableandengagedonaglobalbasis.ThereareacoupleofChinesecompaniesemerging.VonitronInc.hasawebsitethatfeaturesacompletelineofspiral-woundelements.Allofthesemanufacturersareproducingtheirownthin-filmpolya-midemembrane.Intheyearstocome,itwillbeinterestingtoseeifthesecompetitorsorothersfromtheregioncanobtainasignificantmarketshare.UF/MFMarketSizeInformationontheprecisesalesofultrafiltration/microfiltra-tion(UF/MF)membraneismoredifficulttoobtainandanalyzethanfortheRO/NFmembranecompetitors.ThisisprimarilybecausetheUF/MFmembranemanufacturersalsoproduceandsellthehardwareandequipmentassociatedwiththeirmembrane.Componentssuchasmembranehousings,endcapsandmanifoldpiecesareoftenintegraltothemem-brane,andnotsoldseparately.Informationonhowmuchrevenueisactuallymembraneandhowmuchcanbeattributedtohardwarecomponentsisnoteasilyobtained.In2003,thetotalsalesattributedtoU