Suppliers of cross-flow membrane equipment and consumables will enjoy a market of $9.8 billion in 2013 rising in 2014 by 6% and, therefore, exceeding $10 billion.
This is the latest forecast in RO, UF, MF World Market published by the McIlvaine Company. East Asia will be the leading region. Purchases in 2014 will exceed $3 billion. The lack of water and contamination of available water are two factors in the investment in reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and microfiltration equipment.
NAFTA will be the second leading region on an overall basis. However, it will remain the largest region for the consumable membranes.
The Middle East is a major purchaser due to the desalination of seawater. The costs of desalination using reverse osmosis are remaining relatively constant while the costs for alternative sources of water are rising.
There are a number of factors which will expand the cross-flow membrane market at growth levels in excess of GDP. These include: increasing water demands; decreasing water quality; new contaminants of concern such as endocrine disrupters; new markets such as ballast water treatment; expanding markets such as zero liquid discharge for hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas; expanding process needs, for example, separating of product at biotechnology facilities; and higher efficiency level process needs, such as ultrasupercritical coal-fired boiler feeedwater.
